Skype Hacks

Chapter 1. Start Using Skype

Hacks 1–12: Introduction

This chapter is targeted at readers who are new to Skype, or who have only heard about Skype and would like to try it. Experienced Skype users might want to skip this chapter and move on to more advanced stuff in Chapter 2 and beyond.

By reading this chapter, you will achieve three important goals: you will know what Skype is and what it can do; you will acquire a "Skype vocabulary” that will help you make better use of the hacks that follow in subsequent chapters; and you will be able to make a smooth transition to becoming a dyed-in-the-wool “Skyper.” Moreover, you will achieve these goals in an action-oriented way—by doing hacks!

Additionally, by reading this chapter—an alternative title for which could be “A Whirlwind Tour of Skype’s Features”—you will also see links among later hacks that would otherwise remain hidden. In short, if you are new to Skype, this chapter is for you.

What Is Skype?

Skype is both software and a bundle of services. It is an implementation of Voice over IP (VoIP) that enables people to have two-way telephone conversations over the Internet using a softphone (a piece of software that emulates the functions of regular phone hardware to make and receive calls). Many VoIP offerings are available. What makes Skype so different, and revolutionary, is that it is based on Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology similar to Kazaa (this is not surprising, really, given that Skype was developed by the same people who brought ...