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Skype is a well known chat program. It is free and offers both instant messaging and video chat to all users. But there is much more to Skype than that. This little free piece of software can call anywhere in the world and if you are calling someone else who is using Skype, it is completely free too. If you are using Skype but need to call a phone, the price is still reasonable at just over a dollar a minute.

Aside from instant messaging and free world wide calling, Skype’s video chat feature is beginning to make science fiction come to life. You can chat in high definition or normal definition video chat with multiple people at once. If you’re family is far away, you can still get everyone on a Skype video chat for Thanksgiving dinner. Skype dominated four of the five most downloaded voice and video chat programs in the past year, making it by far the most popular.

Also, Skype now has a mobile program. You can put Skype on your phone or pocket PC and stay connected at all times. If you opt for the Unlimited Worldwide package (around $10 a month), your Skype has a voice mail feature. Voice mail on Skype is great, especially if you link Skype to your social websites and want to stay in touch with people around the world without being on call constantly. You can also create Skype groups – which also ties into your social websites – for your hobbies or business meetings. Overall, Skype is becoming more and more popular because it is cheap, fast and accessible world wide.