The first thing you'll need to do when getting started with Skype is to actually download the program.
Skype is a free download, and it's available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. In order to download Skype, just click on the Download Skype button and follow the very simple directions.
For the purpose of this tutorial, I'm going to follow the Windows instructions just because I have a Windows operating system. Here are the basic system requirements you'll need to run Skype (these are subject to change as Skype is updated):
- PC running Windows 2000 or XP. (Windows 2000 users require DirectX 9.0 for video calls).
- Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
- Speakers and microphone; built-in or separate. (note: compare prices on the top desktop microphones or various popular microphone brands.)
- A webcam, if you want to make video calls.
- We also recommend that you have at least 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM and 15 MB free disk space on your hard drive.