Skype for Mac has a new beta version 2.6 available here and it’s brimming with new features. In addition you can expect improved sound quality and software stability according to the company. There is a nifty new call transfer feature allowing you to send a call to someone else. This is something you had to use an office PBX for and this is an unexpected bonus for Mac users.The concept of having software come out for the Mac first used to be something we saw in the desktop publishing world all the time in the late eighties and early nineties. Companies like Aldus who made PageMaker and Quark with their Express publishing platforms routinely developed for a Mac and then the PC.
The PC was always months if not years behind in the desktop publishing world.
This changed in the mid nineties as PCs gained tremendously in price/performance over their Apple branded competitors.
I suppose Apple should be proud to see a mainstream software company like Skype developing for them first once again.
Here are some of the features that are now available on Mac that were previously only available on Windows:
- Joining public chats
- A chat typing indicator - see when others are writing a message
- The ability to call any Skype Prime premium services provider and pay with Skype credit
- Automatic Updates – get new features and updates without having to go to Skype’s website to download
- DTMF tones for automatic answering services available also during Skype-to-Skype calls
Here are the Current system requirements
- Mac computer with G4 800 Mhz processor or faster.
- Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or later.
- 512 MB RAM.
- 40 MB free disk space on your hard drive.
- Microphone.
- Webcam: suggested webcams include Apple iSight, Philips SPC900NC, or Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000. Drivers for the Philips and Logitech webcams can be downloaded here.
- Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
So with this release, Mac users once again have some bragging rights over the PC. The question is how long will PC fans have to wait to get this new and exciting office-like call-transfer feature?
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