Skype 1.0 (the free internet telephony software for Windows & Linux from the founders of KaZaA) has been released! Its an awesome piece of software by all standards. I’ve been using Skype (pre-release beta) for a couple of months now and it just works! The voice quality (for PC to PC calls) is really good (except for some rare instances where the voice breaks, specially in bidirectional conversation, but that’s very rare). Version 1.0 also has in-built file sharing and the biggest feature of all – PC to Phone calls (not free but low cost). I see a lot of potential in Skype. It is currently offered in 15 languages and has already reached nearly 17 million downloads from more than 165 countries. As of February 2004, Skype was averaging approximately 15 new user registrations per minute. I’m sure that number is on a roll by now 🙂
Skype is great role model for ideal software utilities. It solves a purpose (of free internet telephony), is simple to use (try it) and “does-what-it-says” quite efficiently. If you would like to know more about the technology behind Skype then you must read this cool article on decentralized/distributed P2P networks.