Skype 2.1 Beta For Linux Has Been Released

Skype 2.1 Beta vor Linux has been released yesterday, bringing a lot of new features, including:

• High Quality Video support.
• Skype's SILK audio codec.
• PulseAudio support.
• SMS sending support.
• Chat messages editing/removing support.
• Contact groups support.
• Typing notification in chat.
• Chat picture support (add/change/remove) for group conversations.
• Mood messages are visible in contact list and tooltip.
• Video/Mobile icons are visible in contact list.
• Bookmarked Chats are visible in contact list.
• Contact labels/tags.

There have also been a lot of improvements (such as typing indicator, new emoticons and message editing) and bug fixes. You can see the full list of changes, HERE.

Download Skype 2.1 Beta for Linux (packages available: Ubuntu and Debian .deb, Fedora .rpm, OpenSUSE .rpm and generic installation files).

Issues

If you webcam works but Skype has trouble with using it, create a new empty, let's call it "launch_skype.sh" file and paste this in it:

#!/bin/bash
sleep 2
LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l2convert.so skype

Then use the terminal to navigate to where this file is located and:

sudo chmod +x launch_skype.sh

And use this file to launch Skype.