I keep hearing over and over about how horrible Skype is. I've been using it for over 5 years (on OS X) now and I have not noticed any issues, and the improvements to UI over the years made it really nice and user friendly. So I don't really know if people who complain about it actually used it in the recent years or not.
Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
141–150 of 285 posts
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
>get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new generation comes along with a new favorite tool I wonder if this rule holds just as much for IRC - for most FOSS projects, IRC is the go-to choice, and it's been that way for a long time.
IRC is my favorite, but IRC is bad for company, because you have to manage your own IRC server (you don't want to host your company stuff on freenode, do you). Also, IRC doesn't come with any integration with third party tools. Unless you have a very willing hacker willing to build the integration from scratch, IRC is bad. Not that you would never find a use case to write custom bot on Slack for your need, but I imag…
IRC is also bad because it is too client-side. There is no history: if you're not connected or not in the room, you miss all the messages there. IRC Cloud and similar things half-solve this problem in the ideal situation (eg: nothing fails, such as IRC Cloud connecting to the IRC server), but they are a kludge on top of what is really an inadequate protocol if you want to compare to Slack/Hipchat/etc.
Frequently we will @mention someone in a room that the are not currently in, saying something like "Hm, maybe @person can help with this?" and then they'll get the notification, join the room, read the last bit of conversation, and often provide a solution or something useful. That workflow simply doesn't exist on IRC.
There are a handful of other features that range from really-freaking-nice-to-have to essential, such as user avatars, away status, formatted code blocks, inline image display (upon seeing url), @mentions, @mentions that go to e-mail when you're away, synchronized notifications across multiple platforms, file/image upload (via copy/paste).. Some of these CAN be done with the right IRC client, but they're not universal or standardized.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Microsoft had their chance and dropped the ball on a lot of things, but they always figure it out. Skype on OSX looks much better now and I suspect if they're focusing on Skype instead of spending $8B, then you're looking at serious competition.
I have a different experience. It was bad before MS came in and got way worst after - except the icon. The icon now is way more slick! But that won't cut it... Plus, I would never use it professionally since Skype (and MS in general) are the extreme low in regards to privacy.
Now that Skype is under the Office license (and hence must be secure enough to meet HIPAA/HITEC) hopefully the security issues improve dramatically.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#144We initially used Skype on our team to communicate with others. However, the software was horribly buggy on OSX. Slack has become part of our main toolchain. It works, has the basic features you need and doesn't get in our way. The integrations are great and we'll continue to use them. Unless Microsoft rebuilds Skype for the ground up, I don't see us leaving Slack for it. They had their chance, and they dropped the b…
Microsoft wouldn't let me use the version of skype i had on win 8.1 anymore unless i upgraded it, then wouldn't let me upgrade it unless i upgraded to windows 10. I opted to try the skype web client and had to install some skype plugin. Chrome quite literally stopped working the next day, though I'm not sure if it's related to the skype plugin. At any rate, Slack's user experience has been head and shoulders above Skype.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#145I keep hearing over and over about how horrible Skype is. I've been using it for over 5 years (on OS X) now and I have not noticed any issues, and the improvements to UI over the years made it really nice and user friendly. So I don't really know if people who complain about it actually used it in the recent years or not.
I've been recently (eg, had a meeting yesterday) interacting with a company that uses Skype for meetings, and I think by far, it's the worst meeting software I've used (vs Webex, joinme, Gotomeeting, etc).
It takes several minutes to get things connected and working -- especially the first time, when you have to install something (not sure if it's the full skype client?) to even view the meeting. Screen sharing has some really stupid flaws, like not being able to go full screen on the client-side. Phone integration usually works, once you find the right number in a list of several dozen phone numbers (not sure if this is Skype or the business using it), though it shows you in the meeting as a separate "unknown" user (even if you've also joined via PC).
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's far more than web-based IRC and has a substantial userbase, a significant number of whom are paying for the service. Given the failures MS has had with communication tools in the past, I'm not surprised at all they mulled an $8B acquisition of Slack
> It's far more than web-based IRC How exactly?
Inline animated gif support.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#147No one in here mentions Jabber. . .
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#148I wonder if the outcome would have been different if Slack was incorporated outside of the US where Microsoft could use some of its non domiciled cash on the acquisition? http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-admits-keeping-92-billion-o... Also interesting to think that Slack could be worth so much. Look at ICQ, Microsoft instant messenger, etc. It seems as though slack like tools get eclipsed every 5-10 years as a new ge…
Frankly Slack's success is the utter failure of every alternative on the UX side. MSN messenger was perhaps wrong-footed by the shift to multi-device, but none of the other tools have such an excuse. It's not a generational thing, it's an incredible level of, there's no other word, incompetence on the part of the makers of major messaging software (Skype in particular).
MSN had big flashing ads. When I first saw that I assumed I was dealing with another windows install with malware on it. I've paid for the OS, why have I got this freemium crap?
Slack has no way of letting me know who's read the messages. Come on, it's 2016. I asked them about this and they told me the only solution is it get each contact to add a sunglasses icon as they read each message! What a joke.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#149I keep hearing over and over about how horrible Skype is. I've been using it for over 5 years (on OS X) now and I have not noticed any issues, and the improvements to UI over the years made it really nice and user friendly. So I don't really know if people who complain about it actually used it in the recent years or not.
I've been recently (eg, had a meeting yesterday) interacting with a company that uses Skype for meetings, and I think by far, it's the worst meeting software I've used (vs Webex, joinme, Gotomeeting, etc). It takes several minutes to get things connected and working -- especially the first time, when you have to install something (not sure if it's the full skype client?) to even view the meeting. Screen sharing has s…
I think the problem is that they are using a wrong tool for the job, because of that you are comparing Skype to a meeting software, but Skype is not focused on being a meeting software, it is focused on friends and family video calls by proving a simple interface and basic functions.
Re: Source: Microsoft mulled an $8B bid for Slack, will focus on Skype instead
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would mind commenting on why you do not use HipChat anymore? Curious...
I still really like HipChat but the latest versions have been unbelievably bad. Connection issues, message delivery issues, users showing up as offline who are actually online, etc... If they don't fix things soon we're going to have switch to Slack.
I've been having the same issues. It's almost unusable. A pity because we've been using it for years.