On Sunday the Skype blog was updated with an introduction to Skype for Windows 8, which will be released this Friday along with Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. It's a brand new experience, the blog states, focusing on people and messages front and center. Recent chat messages and calls will be presented next to frequently messaged contacts immediately after the client is launched.
"Skype has also made it even easier for you to call landlines or mobile phones directly, with a new modern dial pad," said Mark Gillett, chief development and operations officer at Skype. "You can easily see how much Skype Credit you have along with active subscriptions and your recent calls all in one easy view."
In this release, Skype has been "re-architected" from the ground up, and will feel more native than previous versions on Windows 7 and older. It will be "always on," running seamlessly in the background and alerting users about new calls and instant messages in boxy notification tags pinned to the right of the screen. And, naturally, because this will be a Modern UI app, the new-and-improved Skype will not only run in full-screen mode, but be touch compatible.
Source: Tomshardware