Microsoft announced not long ago a major overhaul for Outlook.com that would bring plenty of new features, a new calendar, and an improved version of Skype, but because staying in touch with friends and family is so important these days, the company has decided to release the new Skype UI a little bit earlier.

Despite the fact that the new Skype UI was supposed to go live during the summer, Microsoft has decided to release it a little bit sooner and make it available for users of the current version of Outlook.com, thus making all improvements available right now.

The company explains that all these goodies will be rolled out in the next few weeks, so in case you don’t see it already, just wait for a few more days and try again.
Completely overhauled experience

The new Skype UI, which can be accessed from the Outlook.com sidebar, allows you to quickly view your online contacts, view recent conversations and search for people on Skype, thus making it easier to chat and get in touch with new friends.

What’s more, you can now start a call more easily by simply pressing the voice or video call button in the conversation window, which makes Skype for Outlook.com look and feel more similar to the desktop client.

“Pick up 1:1 conversations or group chats where they left off by clicking on the corresponding bubble on the right. Don’t worry; all of your Skype chat messages are synchronized across all of your devices,” Microsoft explains. “Press the call button to make 1:1 voice or video calls. Before your first call, all you need to do is install our browser plug-in.”

The complete Outlook.com will also launch in a few months, most likely soon after the release of Windows 10 on July 29, and the new Skype will also be part of it. Until that happens, however, everyone should be getting the new UI in their current version of Outlook.com.


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