Anyone use Skype?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Just received notification that MSN Messenger service is going to end. Said they were combining Messenger with Skype and recommended signing up for a Skype account. Said if you sign in with your Microsoft account, you will maintain the same contacts.

Just FYI, I do not have a cell phone, iPad, or any touchy screen kinda thing, have never used Skype or known anyone who has. Was wondering if this is no big deal or if I should export my contacts and move on to some other email service provider?

Thanks for any information!!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Steve,

We use Skype with our desktop PC when we are at home for video conferencing with the kids and grandkids. We also use it with our laptop when one of us is on the road away from each other. Works well.

[Brian Kent]

We have been very happy with the free Skype that lets you connect two computers and with the $60 / year version at church that lets us interact with many people at a time. We Skype our Saturday 5 PM service to our military families in Japan - 9 AM Sunday their time.

[Rick Potter]

I got the same message, and also have no desire to group chat, video chat, etc. The way I read it, our e-mail is going to remain the same (hotmail?), and this is a different thing from messenger.

That's the way I read it, but the dummy could be wrong.

Rick Potter

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ken, Brian - does Skype provide an email or is it all video? I am curious as I have a lot of saved emails that I sure want to keep.

[Rod Sheridan]

Steve, I use the free Skype service when I travel to video call home............Works well..............Rod.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rod - does it have an email portion to it or is it all about the video?

[Harvey M. Taylor]

Steve, we have Skype, and talk and view my wife's sister and family in Warren Mi. We bought the 60.00 camera, but you can get cheaper. No monthly charge, it is just incorporated in with email. Warning, keep the area around the camera neat and clean, otherwise the recipient will tell you your place sure is messy. I think it is the new wrinkle of the future, being able to see as well as hear the other person.Skype will walk you thru hooking it up. Very simple.If you get it, let me know and we will talk. Max

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks for the info Max! I do not have a web-cam or microphone - so at some point would have to pick those up. My immediate concern was for the traditional email service because I get messages from folks in all sorts of time zones. Well, that and it is easier to just sit down and read something when it is convenient for me - vs - having to answer the phone and talk when you are in the middle of something else!

[Larry Browning]

Now I have never used messenger, but my perception is that it is a IM client program that allows chat with other messenger users. I think it also has the ability to do voice and video. And according to what I read here it can link into an email account as well. I have used Skype off and on for many years in both a personal and business environment, and it is essentially the same thing as messenger, except it has always emphasized the voice and video feature over the basic IM chat (which it has and it works quite well). I have always treated email as a separate activity from IM chat and therefore have separate applications for that, so I have no knowledge about integrating email into Skype.
Steve, You do not need either a web-cam or microphone to use Skype as a IM client, You just won't be able to use those features. Skype allows you to place calls to land lines for a small fee as well. But actually, if you can get the people you want to call to install Skype on their computers, you can make voice and video calls to just about anywhere in the world for free. They even make a smartphone app so you can use it when you are out and about as well.

Since Microsoft acquired Skype, Messenger was viewed as redundant, so they are discontinuing it.

[Dave Atkinson]

Messenger is an instant-messaging service separate from the email service Hotmail. If you don't use instant messaging (I sure don't), the transition to Skype will not affect your email. Microsoft has started to encourage Hotmail users to migrate to their newer email service Outlook.com, but that's a separate story.

Microsoft bought Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011, according to Wikipedia - guess they're trying to get their money's-worth.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thanks guys! I have never used the IM portion of Messenger - just the Hotmail section. I will give Skype a try. Appreciate everyone's advice!

[Gordon Eyre]

My wife and I were able to have regular contact with our son in Iraq and Afghanistan. It worked great on our PC.

[Tom Giles]

I've used Skype to talk to my son in Japan and South Korea and it works fine however we switched over to Magicjack. The sounds seem to be clearer on Magicjack.

[Larry Browning]

Thanks guys! I have never used the IM portion of Messenger - just the Hotmail section. I will give Skype a try. Appreciate everyone's advice!

Steve,
Sounds to me like you need to start using an email client instead of an IM client. I would not even bother with Skype if I were you. I did a little research and it appears that hotmail can be accessed via any pop3 client. Your options are many. If you happen to have MS Office with Outlook, you can use that. If not, give Mozilla Thunderbird a try. It has a simple, yet powerful interface.
Seriously, for you this is the way you need to go, forget Messenger and Skype. Get yourself a nice email client, you should be much happier. Since you are using hotmail, I am pretty sure all your history is not stored on you pc, so keeping all that is really a non issue.