Программа IP-телефонии - позволяет общаться голосом через Интернет (компьютер-компьютер), причем для качественной связи вполне достаточно даже невысокой скорости dial-up соединения; поддерживается работа через файрволлы NAT. На сегодняшний день эта программа, позволяющая звонить бесплатно в любую точку мира, доступна на двадцати семи языках. Последняя версия программы имеет упрощенный интерфейс, и в ней впервые представлена возможность видеочата. Благодаря этому все пользователи программы могут не только слышать, но и видеть друг друга.

Кроме этого, в специальном окне они могут наблюдать, как они сами выглядят со стороны. Для пущей приватности связь шифруется. Кроме голосовой связи, Skype позволяет обмениваться короткими текстовыми сообщениями, отправлять SMS, а также поддерживает проведение видеозвонков, в том числе и в режиме видеоконференции. Еще одна из главных функция - обеспечение звонков на любой телефон по всему миру, но эта опция является платной (но дешевой).

В последних версиях появилась отправка SMS, а так же новый мастер набора и новые методы оплаты (для звонков на обычные телефоны), совместное испольование записных книжек, набор номеров из контактов Outlook, исправлены ошибки и многое другое.

Skype is the next phenomenon from the people who brought you KaZaA. Just like KaZaA, Skype uses P2P (peer-to-peer) technology to connect you to other users – not to share files this time, but to talk and chat with your friends. The technology is extremely advanced – but super simple to use... You’ll be making free phone calls to your friends in no time!

Features:
- Free unlimited worldwide phone calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world
- Skype video (webcam), see who you are talking to with free video calls
- Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
- Conference call with up to four people for free
- Call ordinary phones with SkypeOut
- Superior sound quality – better than your regular phone
- Your calls are encrypted “end-to-end” for superior privacy
- Friends list shows you when your Skype friends are online and ready to talk or chat
- Works with all firewall, NAT and routers – nothing to configure!
- Super-simple and easy to use
- Based on cutting edge peer-to-peer technology developed by the creators of Kazaa and Joltid In order to use Skype for Windows software, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements:
- PC running Windows 2000 or XP
- 400 MHz processor
- 128 MB RAM
- 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive
- Sound Card, speakers and microphone
- Internet Connection (either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband: cable, DSL, etc.)

Changes in 04.07.2007, version 3.2.0.175:
* improvement: Installer Vista support improved
* change: Internet Explorer plugin updated
* bugfix: Call quality slightly improved
* bugfix: Installer did not remember previous install location
* bugfix: Latvian installer was not working
* bugfix: Skype displayed blanks under audio settings
* bugfix: Some rich mood messages were not shown correctly

Changes in 04.07.2007 Skype 3.5.0.158 for Windows Beta:
* feature: Add video to mood and chat message
* feature: Video snapshot
* feature: What's New Guide
* feature: Support for Firewire Digital cameras
* change: Change SkypeMe status to Online for users under 16
* change: Updated all language files
* change: IE Plugin updated (2.2.0.98)
* bugfix: When menu was opened it needed 2 clicks to answer a call on tray notification
* bugfix: Latvian installer did not work
* bugfix: Installer did not remember custom install location
* bugfix: Profile phone number text was cropped
* bugfix: Autoredial attempts were wrongly counted
* bugfix: Skype contacts were shown as SkypeOut contacts when sending SMS
* bugfix: Accessibility: Not all buttons in profile were selectable via Tabstop
* bugfix: Multiple device indicators were overlaying sometimes
* bugfix: Status icon was shown wrongly on some machines
* bugfix: Unable to copy emoticons while writing chat message
* bugfix: Chat did not open from right place when person has extended keyboard navigation enabled
* bugfix: Selecting text with double click did not work as expected when there were links in message
* bugfix: Skype sometimes crashed on call transfer
* bugfix: Duplicate entries in contact list
* bugfix: Contact groups scrollbar visible when groups not expanded
* bugfix: Voicemail event count does not decrease after listening to it
* bugfix: Sound error not played on some actions
* bugfix: German match case option in chat shown in black
* bugfix: Cyrillic characters were shown wrongly on some places
* bugfix: Chat messages were shown with too much indent
* bugfix: Long usernames displayed wrongly in Events Panel
* bugfix: Skype displayes blanks under Audio Settings
* bugfix: Name not shown on tray alert on 1680x1050 resolution
* bugfix: Call forwarded icon not displayed
* bugfix: Changing participants view was not possible in chat window
* bugfix: Add to SkypeOut did not work as expected on some rare cases
* bugfix: Options accessibility has usability problems with screen readers
* bugfix: Chat window content was too wide
* bugfix: Chat controls did not appear instantly
* bugfix: Video calls should be better on relayed connections
* bugfix: Video calls with integrated Intel video cards had green flicker
* bugfix API: It was not possible to select default audio device

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