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I run Skype 4.3.0.37 and when people send files through the chat, the transcript says:

This device doesn't support Skype's new photo sharing features yet, but you can still view it in your browser here: https://login.skype.com/login/sso?go=xmmfallback?pic=0-cus-d1-.......

That page in turn has a footer saying:

Your version of Skype is out of date, so you'll see these messages on the web. You can either update Skype[1], or use Skype for Web[2].

and [1] links to the download for skype-ubuntu-precise_4.3.0.37-1_i386.deb which is exactly what I already have installed. [2] is https://web.skype.com/en/ that I haven't tried yet.

Is it correct that there is no newer version than 4.3.0.37 for Linux?
Can I do something to avoid Skype complaining over this?

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    Looks like it's just not supported in that version of Skype for linux. People have been complaining about it since June of last year, at least. The link to the newest download is probably just a generated link to the latest skype for your platform without actually caring if it will work
    – Mitch
    Feb 12, 2016 at 21:37

2 Answers 2

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Microsoft no longer updates the version of Skype for Linux with new features (because they put all the new features in the Windows version because they want you to install Windows), and as that is a reasonably recently implemented feature the Skype version for Linux does not support it.

So your best bet is to either:

1. Click the link it provides you in the first message in order to view the image online.

2. Use the web version of Skype.

3. Get the other person to send it as just regular file (if there is no option to do so either get them to change the extension to something which won't be recognized as an image or get them to convert the image contents to hex or something and just shove that in a txt file so that when you receive it you can convert it back to an image and view it - it will all depend on how Skype determines on whether or not it is an image).

4. Use WINE or PlayOnLinux to run the latest version of Skype (I tried this before and could never get this to work though - if you do it with WINE it doesn't have the necessary fonts, and if you do it with PoL, the installer just fails).

5. Switch from Skype to a different program which does still properly support Linux (personally I would highly recommend that you switch to Tox which is a great new privacy focused program with many different clients for many different devices. You can install Tox (I would personally recommend qTox (GUI) or Toxic (CLI) as they are great clients) by following the appropriate instructions for your OS here).

But I don't think there's much else you can do about it other than install Windows and view it in the latest version of Skype there (queue "BOO")...

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    Since MS won't deliver a new version, this must be the definite answer. Thank you! Feb 12, 2016 at 21:58
  • I looked for a Tox package but found only python-tox, which doesn't sound like what you had in mind.
    – kasperd
    Feb 13, 2016 at 12:41
  • @TorbenGundtofte-Bruun for completeness — there's also a plugin for pidgin of web version of Skype. I am using it for conversation with peoples who needs Skype. FYI, the mention about the outdated version is a bug. I tried recently to bugreport it, but damn Microsoft removed everything related to bug reporting (btw anyone could bump the theme just for fun), i.e. one could only complain to a forum, there's no way to bugreport.
    – Hi-Angel
    Feb 13, 2016 at 13:18
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    @kasperd: It's not available in the standard repositories, you either download the deb file from their website which I linked, or you add their official repository and then install it from there. Go here for both installation methods.
    – user364819
    Feb 13, 2016 at 20:12
  • Another good alternative to Skype is Ekiga.
    – Seth
    Feb 17, 2016 at 4:08
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At the moment it seems that Microsoft is offering and actively developing a new "Skype for Linux".

On the linked webpage it says

Important notice: All Skype for Linux clients version 4.3 and older will be retired on July 1, 2017. To keep chatting, please install the latest version of Skype for Linux.

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