The new Skype with support for multi-person video chatting is out, download it here.
Fair warning, this is a preview build so bugs and crashes are to be expected. The preview is PC only, Mac users have to wait until “later this year” to get the same feature set. The staggered roll out is a bit unfortunate as many of the people you would want to talk to are Mac users, thus precluding the usability of the new version.
Of course, everyone you video call has to have downloaded the new version of Skype as well to support the call. The annoying ticks aside, the future of Skype looks bright. With cheap all-inclusive calling plans and 5 person video chat, Skype continues to impress.
The large difference between two person and five person video chatting is that multi-person video chatting will not be free. Skype calls it premium, and expects you to pay for it. There are no set prices to report at the moment, but expect this to be bundled into other paid Skype plans.
This is something that everyone can love, except for Linux users who it seems will not get multi-person video chat this year.
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