Alternate Skype Client Mac

[natlinxz]

I'm not sure if this fits in the digital audio section, but feel free to move this thread if it doesn't fit.

I have a lot of friends that use Skype, and I really want to be able to call them in Skype, but the Skype client for mac is..... FREAKING TERRIBLE!

It doesn't automatically refresh your contacts online status, it takes too long to log in, the interface is a couple of decades behind the windows version, etc.

I know that hundreds of VOIP clients exist, but I'm looking for an alternate Skype client for Mac that actually uses the Skype servers. I want to be able to call my Skype friends, without actually using the regular Skype client.

So could anyone suggest some good Skype clients for Mac?

 

[Project Guru]

I too would like to see an open source Skype client alternative. I dislike the GUI for the latest skype for Mac (5.4.0). It takes too much screen real estate and you can't customize the columns you can/can't see. Feels like another screen real estate hog. I guess now that it's under Microsoft's control, we can expect less than great developments for Skype. (slow and resource hog like Office anyone?)

 

[garybUK]

Trillian has a wrapper on top of Skype, you need Skype installed and it puts it in silent mode... basically a UI on top of Skype.