

Microsoft digs into its deep pockets to snatch up Skype







Updated 5/11/2011 @ 8:34am





You can read the full press release here.

Comments     Threshold


RE: So...
By MrBlastman on 5/10/2011 2:24:26 PM , Rating: 1
From an IT buddy of mine--according to him, Livemeeting is terrible and no way has ever achieved the smoothness and clarity that Skype provides. But, I have no idea, I've never messed with it.

RE: So...
By Smilin on 5/10/2011 5:48:10 PM , Rating: 1
Depending on what he's doing he may be correct. I myself wouldn't use Livemeeting to simply make a video call. It's a bit heavy for such a simple task.

Livemeeting (the service, not the on-premises) doesn't use high definition video and it is also burning a lot more CPU and bandwidth for whiteboarding, app sharing, participant lists and such. It was a service built before Skype was even a company and is nearing the end of it's support lifecycle.

OCS 2007 R2, the predecessor to Lync began offering HD video before Skype. Lync does it p2p and in conferences of up to 250 with active speaker switching video and multiplexed audio and uses a far more efficient codec.

Office365 will include the newer Lync Online (which you can buy now is still beta).

In the consumer space, Live Messenger is on par with Skype for AV quality. If there are differences in the experience it's more likely an endpoint issue (CPU, Mic used, network jitter, etc).

