Group contacts: organize your contacts into as many groups as you need. While there are some pre-defined groups (like Online, Waiting Authorization, Recently Contacted), youÂ?re free to add new ones that suit your life. This should be a godsend to those whose contact list has ballooned to hundreds of Skype users. Explore this nifty feature under the cogwheel icon on the main screen.

See your Apple Address Book contacts in Skype: easily call or SMS anyone who has a phone number in their address-book profile. When texting, just make sure the number is one that belongs to a mobile phone.

Create and manage public chats: by clicking on Chats in the menu bar and choosing Start Public Chat. A public-chat assistant will walk you through the necessary steps.

Auto Redial for busy or unconnected calls: When your call hits the busy signal, Skype will give you the option of automatic redial every two minutes until the call goes through. This setting can also be adjusted in Skype > Preferences > Calls.

Easy sound-level controls: when you need to tweak the sound level during a call, use a simple slider in the call window

Overhauled file transfer: wearing a more fashionable jacket, file-transfer now looks elegant and acts even nicer, especially when receiving many files at once