Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. Skype created a little piece of software that makes communicating with people around the world easy and fun. With Skype you can say hello or share a laugh with anyone, anywhere. And if both of you are on Skype, it's free.
Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype, based in Luxembourg, has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers and is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY).

Features:
- Free unlimited worldwide phone calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world
- Skype video (webcam), see who you are talking to with free video calls
- Chat with up to 100 people in group chats
- Conference call with up to four people for free
- Call ordinary phones with SkypeOut
- Superior sound quality - better than your regular phone
- Your calls are encrypted -end-to-end- for superior privacy
- Friends list shows you when your Skype friends are online and ready to talk or chat
- Works with all firewall, NAT and routers - nothing to configure!
- Super-simple and easy to use
- Based on cutting edge peer-to-peer technology developed by the creators of Kazaa and Joltid In order to use Skype for Windows software, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements:
- PC running Windows 2000 or XP
- 400 MHz processor
- 128 MB RAM
- 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive
- Sound Card, speakers and microphone
- Internet Connection (either dial-up: minimum 33.6 Kbps modem, or any broadband: cable, DSL, etc.)

Changes in 01.10.2008, Skype 4.0.0.166 for Windows:
* feature: Compact view
* feature: Scalable profiles
* feature: Contact categories (previously known as contact groups)
* feature: Support for Vista Core Audio
* feature: Call quality feedback and indicator
* feature: Ability to login to Skype via command line
* feature: Events and notifications (tray and sound alerts)
* feature: Added High Quality video support for Logitech Vision Pro
* feature: Added mjpg webcam support
* improvement: Now possible to copy mood and paste elsewhere
* improvement: Confirmation screen added to new contact flow
* improvement: What's New Guide updated
* improvement: Better scalability for smaller window sizes
* improvement: Conversation and contact tabs layout
* improvement: Better visibility of video rezise icon
* improvement: Online status (presence) improved for persons with long contact lists
* change: Firefox plugin updated to version 2.2.0.102
* change: Internet Explorer plugin updated to version 2.2.0.205
* change: Language localisation updates
* bugfix: Video in Mood
* bugfix: Video calls occasionally caused Skype to crash
* bugfix: Occasionally, the minimized parameter didn't work
* bugfix: API - Get avatar command did not work
* bugfix: API - Over time, Audio API datastream lost synchronisation