[lyndonh]

Skype as software has a lot of issues. Before they were bought by Microsoft the software worked quite well; on my Mac I'm still running an ancient version. Why ? - it got replaced by a version that takes up half your screen, I think they were trying to make a single version for desktop and iPad. After a public outcry they reduced the size somewhat. The latest version has about 3 extra options about the amount of data you will be sharing with Microsoft/associate companies. What ? I want a phone service, I don't want my personal info datamined. OK, they give you the option to disable this but it doesn't fill me with confidence.

If you want to use Windows 8 Metro version you must "link" to a Microsoft account and change your login to use that method. It's the first thing that it does, but the UI is very subtle about it. IIRC, it even wants to change your desktop login settings. Phone software should not be changing system settings. Also the latest version removes the option to hide the fact that you have a webcam. With Skype you absolutely must read all the fine print and dialogues.

[laurent123456]

Exactly, ever since Microsoft took over Skype definitely went downhill.

Another "feature" they've recently added is that it's impossible to actually logout of Skype [1]. Even if you close Skype on all your devices, logout everywhere, your friends will still see you online. I even uninstalled the client from all my machines but was still online after that.

The official response is that it's how it should work, that Skype is like a phone and people should be able to send you messages and call you at any time. Of course ignoring the fact that people get upset when they see you online and you're not answering their messages and calls.

Since November last years, there have been quite a few complaints about this but nothing has changed so far.

[1] http://community.skype.com/t5/Mac/I-show-up-as-Online-when-I...

[gommm]

Thanks, I hadn't seen the new option "Allow Microsoft to use your Skype profile information to show you more relevant ads in this application". I'm kind of pissed that there wasn't a message when I upgraded to tell me that this new option appeared and was checked by default.

[johnward]

after the acquisition I started having problem on Mac that would freeze everything when failing on skype. I thought it was probably a coincidence but it's seems to continue to get worse. I belive they fixed whatever bug was causing my freezing issues after over a year. by that time a basically gave up on skype.

[coherentpony]

Are there any open source solutions that support both Mac OS X and linux?