Monday, September 1, 2014

Skype: Ready For The Grave

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Skype version 6.19.0.450 was released today. It comes with a surprise. Below is an essay on the subject I've been posting around the net:


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This POS crapware is to be avoided. It has been turned into a Microsoft product, with the usual crapification. Here is the supreme crapification:

Version 6.19.blah has the following LISTED and wrong system requirements:
All you need to get started is Mac OS X 10.5.8 or above, a webcam for video calls and a microphone.
And yet v6.19.blah requires OS X 10.9.x. FSCK -U Microsoft.

Earlier this week there was a lot of blahblah about Skype only working on 64-bit Macs in the future. And yet, here I am on a 64-bit Mac running 10.7.5 (the highest it will run) and the morons at Microsoft managed to screw up their '64-bit' rhetoric and screw over thousands of 64-bit Mac users. FSCK -U Microsoft.

If you and your friends and relatives use Skype, STOP. Use something else, such as CryptoCat or Apple's Facetime.

Microsoft's DETAILED System Requirements for Skype 6.19.blah, which are WRONG:
Skype for Mac 
1GHz Intel processor. 
Mac OS X 10.5.8+.
100 MB free disk space.
Either USB or regular headset if your Mac does not have a built-in microphone. 
Download drivers if you are using an external webcam.
For voice calls recommend broadband connection with 100 kbps down / 100 kbps up. 
For group video calling everyone on the call needs Skype 5.0 for Windows or Mac or higher plus webcams. For best quality we recommend you use a high-speed broadband connection of 4Mbps down/512kbps up and a computer with a Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz processor. As a minimum you’ll need a high-speed broad connection of 512kbps down/128kbps up and a computer with a 1 GHz processor.

FSCK -U Microsoft.


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