Skype for Linux 2.1.0.81 Beta 2 is released. This popular instant message & voice/video-chat software makes it possible to communicate with a wide variety of platforms (including MS Windows & Apple OSX).

Release notes:

New features:

• Screen sharing.
• Report abuse.
• Support for UI styles.
• Possibility to quote a message.
• Localized time formats.

Improvements:

• Instant Messaging performance improvements.
• Possibility to add more email addresses to profile.
• Load all historical group conversations into event history.
• PulseAudio: Possibility to choose different audio device for ringing and notifications.
• A message is displayed when the user tries to add contacts that already are his/her buddies.
• Incoming contact request dialog.

Bugs fixed:

• Crashes when an Instant Message is out of order.
• Skype crashed after turning on animated emoticons.
• Pressing F6 at login screen makes Skype to crash.
• Skype crashes when trying to send a SMS to some invalid numbers.
• Skype crashes when clicking on an invalid Skype Name link, ie. "22".
• Skype crashes when using cancel button in "add SMS Members" window and then pushing "Add" again.
• Crashes when clicking on popup event after logged out from Skype.
• Crashes when calling conference call with auto send video and privacy set to "nobody".
• Using "CLEAR CALLHISTORY ALL" API call will cause a crash.
• HTML injections on profile's Home Page.
• Local time timezone has no longer an invalid value.
• s/old/new/ command is not escaped.
• Editing a message will not change the timestamp of the message. The edited timestamp is displayed in the tooltip of the pencil icon.
• A group conversation stays bookmarked when left.
• Misordered day dividers are handled properly.
• Instant Message search settings are not working and saved.
• Day separator in conversations was not behaving well.
• In some cases the Instant Message disappears until the next IM arrives.
• Wrong message displayed when adding a group conversation picture.
• Do not select all text when editing a message.
• Newly bookmarked conversation now work well with quickfilter.
• Bookmarked IM's don't appear in contact list if done via history for never opened IM's.
• With QT 4.5.x contact groups get collapsed after a while.
• Option dialog resizes to fit the text.
• Voicemail recording/resetting works better.
• Selecting second camera to won't work unless Apply is clicked.
• Under SMS options the "My mobile phone number.." is always greyed out.
• Escape key now exits fullscreen on a video call and when testing video in Video options.
• Escape key doesn't close "options" window.
• No ringing sound on default Alsa device.
• PulseAudio: AGC works better and does not put volume to 0.
• PulseAudio: Sounds cut-off at the end and perhaps PA sound stuttering.
• SMS character counter do not work correctly when adding emoticons.
• Minor improvements for displaying error message when searching/adding existed contacts.
• Add a Skype Contact window grows when switching back from Add a Phone Number Contact.
• API: OPEN IM sends message instead of adding it to input area.
• Calling without enough credit shows as a dropped call.
• Close change password dialog when pressing escape.
• Declining multiple file sendings doesn't work.

Localization:

• New in bundled languages:
  • Ukrainian - Oleh Nykyforchyn.
• Back in bundled languages:
  • European Portuguese - Francisco Miguel Ferreira
  • Spanish
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Latvian
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese
  • Thai
• Updated languages:
  • Bulgarian - Nikolay Filipov & Nikolina Filipova
  • German - Claudius Henrichs
  • Estonian - Marit Mesipuu
  • French - Cédric Lamouche
  • Italian - Marco Cimmino
  • Lithuanian - Viktoras Kriukovas
  • Polish - Karol Szastok
  • Brazilian Portuguese - Fabio Roselet
  • Romanian - Péter Henning & Mónika Iancu
  • Russian - Pavel Shevchuk
  • Turkish - Ömer Emin Dede.
• Countries and languages were not correctly translated under Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese, Chinese Simplified and Traditional.

You can download Skype for Linux 2.1.0.81 Beta 2 here.