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Microsoft is gearing up for the big launch of Windows 8 in this week. To that end, the company has announced that it will pre-install Skype for Windows 8 on ‘the top 12 Windows OEMs’ machines.’ This version of Skype has been specifically developed for the unique interface of Windows 8.

Microsoft has significantly altered the way Skype works ever since the company acquired the product. Before Microsoft acquired it, Skype was inclined towards a peer-to-peer model. However, over time this has changed and now Microsoft makes use of the Windows Messenger infrastructure in Skype, storing its Skype-related data on Windows Azure.

The interface of Skype for Windows 8 has also been tweaked to make it more in sync with the general outlook of the operating system. It has the metro-looks that are the defining feature of Windows 8 and makes use of a number of other Windows 8 features.

For instance, Skype for Windows 8 comes loaded with the ‘snapping’ feature which allows it to run side by side with another app. Moreover, you will be able to search for images on Bing from within Skype and can run in the background on a low-power mode.

From the looks of it, Microsoft is gearing Skype to replace its Messenger altogether. This may be feasible when Skype becomes a low-resource module running in the background all day long. That may happen soon, given the pace at which Microsoft has been modifying its structure.

Although Skype for Windows 8 will come pre-installed on a number of Windows 8 machines, it won’t be available on Surface RT machines. However, the specific version will also be available on Windows Store from October 26th.

Source: Skype

Courtesy: ZDNet

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