Skype today announced the release of Skype 5.3 for OS X Lion. The update is backwards compatible with OS X going all the way back to OS X 10.5 Leopard. Along with some bug fixes and minor tweaks to the UI, the latest version of Skype supports HD quality video which as you can tell from the photo above, is a huge step forward.
Skype sure has been stepping up its upgrade efforts lately. Just last month they released Skype 5.2 which introduced group screen sharing, albeit only via Skype Premium which is priced at at $4.99 a day or $8.99 a month.
Earlier this year, Skype shot into the tech spotlight after it was acquired by Microsoft, ostensibly to keep it away from Google, for a hefty $8.5 billion. Not too bad for a company that hasn’t been all that profitable under various owners. Nonetheless, with Skype now under the purview of Microsoft, some began wondering if Mac support would soon be a thing of the past.
Not to fear – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft will continue investing in Skype on competing platforms, further stating that Microsoft’s track record with respect to similar purchases speaks for itself while specifically pointing out Microsoft’s continued work on Office for the Mac as an example.
Users can download the free Skype update here.
Mon, Aug 8, 2011
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