Microsoft updates Skype for Windows with Outlook integration

A new version of Skype for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP adds Outlook integration, among other features and fixes.

Mary Jo Foley

Mary Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 30 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the post-Gates era (John Wiley & Sons, 2008). She also is the cohost of the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT network.

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Mary Jo Foley

Jan. 10, 2013 1:36 p.m. PT

2 min read

Microsoft's Skype division today rolled out a new version of Skype for Windows (version 6.1).

The updated version is for PCs running 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. (This is not an update for Skype for Windows 8, but since users can run Skype in the Desktop on Windows 8, they can run this update that way if they want.)

The 6.1 update allows users to call and chat with contacts directly from Microsoft Outlook; search and add contacts more easily; and manage accounts from a new profile page, according to officials.

The 6.1 update also includes a number of bug fixes. Here's Microsoft's chart that lists the 6.1 fixes:

I noticed when I just updated and installed this version a note that said future Skype updates may silently install with "future updates." I don't know if this is new. (Anyone?)

Microsoft officials sent notes to some Live Messenger users this week to remind them that Microsoft is planning to pull the plug on its Live Messenger service and replace it with Skype (which includes built-in messaging). The date when this will happen, according to those who received the e-mail, is March 15. I, myself, never got the e-mail even though I still am an active Live Messenger user. Not sure where in the ether (or spam folders) it may have ended up.

In preparation for the discontinuation of Live Messenger and replacement by Skype, Microsoft is prompting Live Messenger users to merge their contact lists. Once a user does this s/he is moved automatically to Skype and cannot use Messenger any longer -- at least not without a lot of support intervention on Microsoft/Skype's part. Users who accidentally or intentionally merge their contacts now may benefit from using Compact View in Skype when messaging their contacts, as WinSupersite's Paul Thurrott noted.

Microsoft's Skype unit also updated Skype for Mac to version 6.1 today. The Mac update allows Skype users to dial numbers from Safari on Mac, and adds an improved user-profile view, according to a blog post detailing the update.

This story originally appeared at ZDNet under the headline "Microsoft updates Skype for Windows with Outlook integration."