Microsoft has just announced Skype for Web, a beta version of its famous Skype messenger for the web that will allow you to use Skype’s audio/video calling and instant messaging services right on your browser. No installation or plugins required.
Announced via an official blog-post, Skype for Web services are being rolled-out gradually to a select existing and new users at the time, and will be expanded to include more users in the near-future. Moreover, only the instant messaging (IM) services will be made available for the users without any prior installation requirement. To use the web service, subscribers can visit Skype.com and simply log-in to begin chatting with their contacts. The web service can be used on all modern browsers, namely Chrome for Windows, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
Skype, after being taken into Microsoft’s folds, has been working on a web-based RTC (real-time communications) system in collaboration with Internet Explorer to offer full-fledge audio and video calling services right from a user’s browser. But until this features comes out, users have to install a separate plug-in to enable this audio/video chat functionality in their browsers.
