Bad news to those who love to teleconference using popular Voice-over-Internet Protocol service Skype, but don’t have the right hardware. The latest features of the software will only work on certain Intel-based machines.
Skype and Intel announced last week that the latest version of Skype’s client software can support up to 10 users on a conference call. However, this will only work on computers with Intel’s latest dual-core microprocessors. For other systems, the maximum number of users that can be accommodated by a conference call is still five.
This deals a big blow to users with AMD-based systems, even those running the Athlon 64-bit series processors. What’s disappointing is that the Athlon 64 has been tested to outperform Intel’s dual core chips. Therefore, the decision to support 10-user conference calls is because of marketing rather than technical reasons. This is viewed by analysts to be very characteristic of Skype, who is among the few VoIP companies that still use proprietary technologies.
With this in mind, Open Standard advocates are calling for the use of alternative technologies in developing VoIP systems. There are a host of VoIP flavors out there, and many technologies are free and have extensive support through online communities. Skype, however, is still a leading brand in the consumer-grade software VoIP market.