I just tried using the Skype 1.4.0.74 beta (static tarball, installed as per instructions in the README file).

This version no longer crashes and burns on my Slackware 11 machine, but all it shows me is my contacts list and my online status/profile. I get no menu bar at all, and consequently no way to make any of the settings I require.

The 1.3 version is still much more functional, and I'm glad I've still got it. If Skype really can't maintain a download link for a working version for "legal" reasons, their lawyers need a damn good kick in the pants.

The GUI has changed in 1.4. Instead of a menu bar you'll find the options by clicking on the small cogwheel in the bottom part.

And I agree on the part that old versions should be still downloadable, because some people can't use 1.4 due to dependencies. Is there no way to change or circumvent the legal reasons?

OK, gotcha.

Now I can see what's there, I'm wondering what the Skype developers have been promising us over the last year or so, with all the hype about a new you-beaut interface.

All the icons etc are recycled from the 1.3 version. It no longer appears to be possible to customise their size, (or else the means to do so are well hidden) so they sort of get lost on my large screens. It is not obvious what the plethora of sound device names are supposed to represent (though I seem to have found devices that work).

If this is all the developers have to show for this many months' work, I am not very impressed.

Well, there had been big improvements in Audio quality and much work had been done behind the scene, i.e. upgrading to Qt4 and such stuff. As an example, I couldn't get the static version of 1.3 running on Feisty Fawn because of outdated dependencies. Also, 1.4 is still in beta stage, so the interface is likely to get a bit more bling in 1.4 Gold.