Skype desktop for Windows finally adds support for hi-res displays

By John Callaham
last updated

Microsoft doesn't comment much officially on Skype updates for Windows desktop users. However, this week the company just released an update for the Windows version of the VoIP client and we noticed that it now supports high-res displays.

Skype Low Vs High

The new update changes the Skype version number from 7.11.80.102 to 7.13.80.101. You can definitely see the difference in the image above taken on our 4K monitor. The image clearly shows a sharper look to text in the user interface along with a way to see more contacts. We have updated our Skype client on our new Surfaces and indeed, finally things look much cleaner.

To grab the update open up Help in the Skype app and choose Check for Updates and the client will download and this latest version for Windows desktop.

How do you like this new support for high-res displays in the Skype Windows update? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks to Casey for the tip!

John Callaham
John Callaham
63 Comments
  • This is really welcome on Surface!
  • At least they noticed us windows users among all the android and IOS users after a long time
  • ...yawn...oh woe is us... =\
  • I think MS really messed up on skype for desktop/skype messaging/skype video/skype app for Windows Phone. WTF?! Just release one UWP app that's all.
  • Legacy support, dude. Not everyone is on Windows 10 and not everyone will be for many months if not a year (enterprise, hospitals, large institutions). Plus, at this time, Skype desktop is still more powerful for professionals.
  • Exactly. In the desktop version, you can also change camera inputs, something I don't remember if you could do with the app in 8.1
  • Yes you can in the modern app, i do it always in my surface RT, is even fast.
  • Surface Pro 1 came out in the beginning of 2013. Why did it take Microsoft almost THREE YEARS to update an app to work properly on its own device?
  • Well, there was the Windows 8 back then.
  • Legacy support haha! That's why they discontinued the Win8 app? DUUUUDE
  • I get it that skype is available for all platforms for different purposes. But a user could get confused as there are so many versions of app are available which can be misleading to an amateur or a beginner.
  • The major drawback of the desktop app it that it does not run in the background like the mobile app for Skype. So when you quit Skype, you will become offline.
  • Are you serious? Close the window and it runs on the taskbar... That's what Microsoft Windows is all about... that is in essence, multitasking, and 'running in the background'.  
  • We've had high rez displays for 3-4 years now. And just now they provided the functionality.
  • I would be very pished-off if we were all forced onto a UWP version of skype, as quite simply everything that microsoft has produced that has come out of the new store is sub-par compared to any desktop version. Same goes for majority of apps I've tried switching from desktop to store versions, such as VLC, and youtube apps are just terrible from the store. Microsofts own mail/people/calendar apps from the store are a joke, I don't want them on my system yet we are forced to have them even when we have outlook desktop client installed which is so much better its like men vs boys.
  • Not true in every sense. Store apps install quick. Reinstall when you rebuild. Auto update. Easy to remove. More secure.  The mail app with calendar is excellent. And on touch devices a joy to use. I don't bother with outlook on my surface.  A bit more maturity in Gui widgets and 3rd party tools and universal apps could be amazing.  Like a Spotify app for Xbox phone and PC  Skye's app landscape is a bit of a mess. Even trying to download Skype for business without using the 365 office installer is impossible. In fact I install Lync and let Windows update - update it. I like universal apps. Clean and fast. 
  • The mail app with calendar is excellent
    You don't seem to know what you're talking about.
  • Desktop app has screen sharing - feature I use a lot for work. Unless UWP app supports that, no thanks.
  • Isn't this same as disabling display scaling?
  • Um, no. You need to redo the graphics in the app itself to get high res support.
  • Interesting. I don't have a 4K monitor to actually see the difference it makes but I will enable display scaling on my laptop now and see if I notice anything after this update. Thanks.
  • Turning off scaling will make everything so tiny in the old version if you are using a high DPI machine.
  • Skype updated all their apps this week and what us in Windows 10 Mobile got? An app rename, YAY!!
  • It's because outside of the Windows department at Microsoft, W10M is considered officially dead.
     
  • If it was dead, they wouldnt continue updating and releasing builds with thousands of people happily waiting to get those new builds. Speak for yourself, please, not the rest of the community that welcomes Windows 10 Mobile.
     
  • I was replying to Guilherme who said Skype was updated on all OSes other than Windows Mobile so I said that's because those working on Skype updates consider Windows Mobile to be dead and therefore never bother with it.
  • Windows Phone 8 is dead. HOWEVER, Windows 10 Mobile is not
  • How can something that wasn't even released officially yet be dead?
  • Sweet! I just love the speed that the Skype team is plowing forward at! Maybe even by next year, they'll have decent tablet apps on Windows! 
  • Next year? Haha. You're optimistic.
  • I think the main reason why MSFT works on Skype apps on all other platforms and kind of lags on Windows is probably because they are pouring their energy into baking Skype directly into the OS and keep up the Windows desktop app just to support legacy users. It may look like they are blowing us off on Windows, but this will pay off in the long term.
  • Finally. I just imagine Satya Nadella Skyping a supplier on a new Surface Book, thinking what the Hell.
  • It's rare for anyone to have imagination these days...good for you! ;D
  • Skype for mobile needs to add phone numbers to connect with people (like WhatsApp) instead of Username/password
  • That's exactly what Skype Video does ... 
  • yeah, it's totally already doing that...
  • Skype had the functionality both on mobile version and the modern app since Windows 8
  • Excellent! Finally. 13" QHD+ hated the old version.
  • Omg Ive been waiting for this. My Surface 3 is so blurry on skype and I couldnt find a way to fix it other than changing the DPI or resolution to something ridiculous. I will be updating this as soon as I can.
  • how can they comment on such an embarrassing situation? all fingers pointed at wp's not so successful career when we have this little waste of code called skype lurking around
  • Fi-f*****-nally!!!! Perhaps someone had to threaten to fire the whole Skype developer team to make them do this.
  • It didn't go up from 7.11.80.102 to 1.13.80.101, not mine at least. I had the 7.12.64.101 after 7.11 and now it is 7.13.64.101 it is differ from area to area, I guess.
  • Why didn't they Do it fkn EARLIER
  • FINALLY
  • Oh my gosh FINALLY. I've been waiting for this for ages! Updating right now.
  • I know its supposed to be a almost-dead OS or unsupported, but my company still has a lot of XP computers, and since version 7.5 it wouldnt work, lots of bugs and incompatibilities with our software. Updated it today to 7.13, to ser if those problema were solved, and it worked fine, no morr crashes or bugs in windows xp.
  • XP isn't almost dead, it is dead. I'm glad Skype is working for you all again.
  • XP is a zombie...like George A. Romero 'Night of the Living Dead' style undead OS. That said, I know a guy who has a working PC with 95 on that sucker lolz =p
  • And we still have some windows 98 laptops because they work with some older medical equipment that we have. The equipment os very reliable, but also very expensive to upgrade, and doesnt work with xp and above. XP was undeniaby a milestone, and for those that did not upgrade with very little money when 8 came out, wont upgrade now because it more expensive to upgrade to whatever windows version. That last few windows xp machines in the world wont come down easy... Even recent medical equipment we have run on XP embeded!!!
  • All improvements are wellcome thanks MS
  • Speaking of UI optimizations, the Windows Central app has reverted back to the large, unoptimized UI. It began with the previous build.
  • Windows Central is working on a new Universal Windows App (UWP) for Windows 10 so hang tight
  • it also adds 10% cpu usage apparently
  • CPU usage is unchanged on my system.
  • Microsoft have dropped the ball over and over again with Skype.  It is embarrassing that a company would buy such a strategically placed piece of software and then sit on it, while numerous other companies have entered the messaging market and grabbed market share.  Skype is a key app for communications across multiple platforms (try that with Apple's messaging or Google's whatever) and should be cutting edge, fast, small, robust, and constantly used by me, but it is not because it is too old and slow and ugly.  How big does an app have to be to perform simple encrypted text messaging?  Answer = tiny, and because of this it could be running in the background all the time with a lightening fast pop-up interface for instant messaging.  But instead it takes multiple seconds to start up and log in and faff around.  What am I missing???
  • MSFT did a ton of work on Skype, but you just don't see it. They completely overhauled the back end moving from p2p to server based. Much more stable and scalable platform. They are in this for the long haul.
  • Hey thanks for that info.  Is there a link where I can read about this?  I truly hope that what you are saying is right because Skype is too strategic to let waste away.
  • You are absolutely right. Very few apps have strong presence on multiple platforms and Skype is one of them. Unfortunately, Microsoft is letting this opportunity to pass. They will then pay billions to buy apps like Line after two years. You should REBOOT Skype just like EDGE browser.
  • Why there is no option to sign in with facebook on mobile app?? This is really annoying... If they allow users to login with facebook on desktop app then why we cant use tht same account on my cell phone?????
  • Does anyone have an issue with the way skype handles chat history??
  • I would be totally fine with this if the option to desativate high dpi as still working. Skype looks really awful and big on my Surface Pro 1 with high dpi turned on, it's not productive at all, i can just see 9 lines of text with it. So, i had the option deactivatedfor skype and just made the font bigger, everything was so nice and had the right size. But now that option is not working, thank you Microsoft for killing skype more and more with each update...
  • I really hope you realize you're the only one with this problem. Also not sure why you call an improvement in DPI a way of killing Skype.
  • The option to desactivate high dpi scalling is there for a reason, i don't believe i'm the only one who uses it. Not even the multiple screen scale change is working when you move it to another screen with a different scaling setting. With killing Skype i mean, with each update/feature they add, they always break  something else, and they've been doing that for some time now. As always, seems like downgrading is the only way to go, this just because i would like to see more than 9 lines of text at a time. I don't know about you, but to me, this sounds ridiculous. I thought the point of having a higher resolution display was having more content of the screen, and not having half of the screen covered by a program's GUI.