[dba-Tech] Skype is great

[Jim Lawrence]

Skype is a very good messenger product. The latest version has all sorts of features as well as looking very clean and very sharp. 

What I did discover, that the latest version is that it is an Electron app. The beauty of Electron apps is that once the code is created, it can then be published on every platform. The downside is that it is slow, especially if you have not updated your hardware to latest products. On the internet, many people have been recommending that you move to the Skype version that was originally published on Windows 7, until performance improves. I have been running the latest Skype version on my computers and I do notice an occasional drop in video and messaging...that is good enough for me but I don't use Skype that much, as it tend to suck a bit if it is run over a wifi connection. From a relatively new 64bit box with 8GB of RAM, on a one GB NIC, with a cat-5 cable connected directly to the Router, I have never had any issues. (Besides, I tend to like the industry standard communication application like Slack (https://slack.com/)) 

I have been keeping open to a possible replacement for Skype messaging and it looks like Signal has answered that request.
https://signal.org/blog/standalone-signal-desktop/
http://bit.ly/2zPSgYW

Signal is a standalone app with support for all the following platforms:

Windows 64-bit: 7, 8, 8.1 and 10
MacOS 10.9 and above
Linux distributions supporting APT, like Ubuntu or Debian

...and has all the following features. Privacy is possible. Signal makes it easy:

* Say Anything - Send high-quality group, text, picture, and video messages.
* Be Yourself - Signal uses your existing phone number and address book. There are no separate logins, usernames, or PINs to manage or lose.
* Stay Private - We can't read your messages, and no one else can either. No exceptions. Everything in Signal is always end-to-end encrypted and painstakingly engineered in order to keep your communication safe.
* Pay Nothing - Signal is supported by a team of dedicated developers, community donations, and grants. There are no advertisements, and it doesn't cost anything to use.
* View Source - All of our code is free, open, and available on GitHub (https://github.com/WhisperSystems).
* Join Movements - Technology developed by Open Whisper Systems is trusted and used by millions of people around the world every day.
* Include Everyone - Signal Desktop can message anyone on Signal.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/signal-private-messenger/bikioccmkafdpakkkcpdbppfkghcmihk?hl=en
http://bit.ly/2yPYEy1

Jim