All you guys complaining about if Microsoft buys Skype it will stop being free. OF COURSE! Cause I've been paying to use MSN Messenger for the past 5 yea- Oh wait... I HAVEN'T! And that has everything Skype has bar the conference calls (free), conference video call (PAID FOR) and calling landlines (PAID FOR).
Basically the most I see coming out of this initially is a merging of the Skype and MSN messenger services. With Skype users and MSN users being able to chat cross-network to start with until slowly Microsoft integrate Skype into the core of Windows Live allowing free voice conferences and subscription landline calls and video conferencing. THe only problem will be that the Mac and Linux distros of Skype may be abandoned, this is a may though as MS have already shot themselves in the foot with the terrible Messenger for Mac.
As for people complaining about how bloated messenger is. The latest Skype for Windows release is TERRIBLY bloated and badly laid out. I only use it because I have friends who refuse to use the new messenger (despite it being a damn sight nicer for IM than Skype is) oh and conference calling. If that gets integrated into messenger for free I will be happy.
Basically the most I see coming out of this initially is a merging of the Skype and MSN messenger services. With Skype users and MSN users being able to chat cross-network to start with until slowly Microsoft integrate Skype into the core of Windows Live allowing free voice conferences and subscription landline calls and video conferencing. THe only problem will be that the Mac and Linux distros of Skype may be abandoned, this is a may though as MS have already shot themselves in the foot with the terrible Messenger for Mac.
As for people complaining about how bloated messenger is. The latest Skype for Windows release is TERRIBLY bloated and badly laid out. I only use it because I have friends who refuse to use the new messenger (despite it being a damn sight nicer for IM than Skype is) oh and conference calling. If that gets integrated into messenger for free I will be happy.