Putting aside quality comparisons, consider that Skype is still "Skype". Even non-technical people know what Skype is, whereas no one knows for sure what Google's Skype competitor is going to be.

> Skype is still "Skype"

In name only. Even non-technical people know what huge pile of crap "Skype" is nowadays.

No, it's the same product with enormous care for user transition. Right now I sit in a Skype chatroom continuously running since 2007.

I have the opposite experience. I hated the new UI they came out with recently and apparently so did 90% of my contact list. I used to always have it running now I barely open it.

The UI has changed more times than I care to count. Skype itself changed ownership 3 times, the underlying communication tech went from P2P to supernodes to Azure integration. At some point I ran its Linux client that hasn't been updated for 5 years. The damn thing never stopped working and the chat is still there.

Funny you bring up skype, Microsoft is actually phasing it out (skype for business) and replacing it with MS Teams. https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-teams-now-ready-rep...

Skype for Business is not Skype but a rebranded Lync.

Not surprised. Lync is terrible.

Why does it keep archiving all the conversations? Sometimes I want to continue a conversation, but it really doesn't want you to.

> Skype is still "Skype"

Except when it is Lync

Lync is an abomination that only exists to dilute the brand

No you're thinking of Office Communicator!

Zoom is the new skype

Zoom is buggy as shit. Example: all of the control buttons randomly disappear if you are running OSX Mojave.

Wait. You're right, I guess Zoom IS the new Skype...

To be fair, most software is full of bugs, Mojave especially.

I ignored the constant reminders to update until I saw that it had reached 10.14.1. I figured with the point release they've fixed all the issues and I seem to be right so far. No issues, and I love the Dark Mode.

Doesn't it require some weird browser extension rather than asking for camera/mic or screensharing permissions through the APIs offered in all modern browsers? Seemed like a kludge when my SO had to use it, like they took the idea of Jitsi and wrecked it.

I use their standalone program on Ubuntu at work; we're switching from hangouts/meet to zoom for a lot (though ad-hoc stuff will likely remain hangouts due to it only being one-click to start one up). It's pretty straightforward, I've almost never had issues.

I just use their desktop app.

The call quality of video and screen sharing is significantly better than Skype and hangouts.

Zoom is the new Webex

Zoom requires like 64gb of ram to run properly when someone does screensharing

I've never once "zoom'ed" a friend. Do you find yourself doing that frequently?

No, but I don't use Skype for that either.

And though I don't use it with friends (FaceTime mostly fills that role) I work remotely and do use Zoom several times a week for video meetings and screen sharing.

Zoom is bad. It hangs frequently for me... it's so frustrating.

Wire is made by people who made the old Skype. Open-source and E2E encryption.

"If".

Most of their product releases are one step forward and one step back. For example, the new Gmail is a little nicer looking, but it's a huge resource hog compared to the previous one without any striking features (though there autocomplete thing is nice). Google Meet just seems to have a few fewer features than Hangouts, and I'm not really sure what it adds.

I honestly haven't seen a new product from them that is noticeably better than whatever it replaced for quite a while. Most things seem to be change for the sake of change.

Inbox was a tragedy. It’s very effective at separating stuff I care about from stupid junk. Unfortunately it greatly reduced the time I spent looking at email. Fantastic for me, awful for ad impressions.

The new gmail is ok I guess. It’s not substantially different from Mac inbox for me to care. Either way I’ll spent some time scanning subject lines and senders. I might be an outlier though.

Replacing X with an "as good" Y is necessarily bad for consumers. It makes no sense to replace something that works. And hangouts works!

Thats silly. Consumers have to learn about the thing, learn how to use it. And those seeking to transition now don't have the google replacement.

I'm looking elsewhere.