Skype announced this week that it’s rolling out the preview of Skype Video Messaging for Windows desktop users. To be more specific, Windows 7 users can now send short video messages to friends that are currently offline. The feature will be coming to Windows 8 soon.

Windows desktop users are just the latest to get Skype Video Messaging. Microsoft notes that the feature is available in preview for those using Skype on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android. Those on Windows 8 and Windows Phone can receive video messages, but they have yet to gain the ability to record messages. Skype says it will be fixing that soon.

If you want to try out Skype Video Messaging for yourself, you’ll have to download the Skype 6.5 beta for Windows. You can grab that here. Alongside the new feature, the beta also includes two small fixes to help increase stability when calling:

In other news, Skype recently announced that Outlook.com users can now make video calls from within their browser. More info on that here.

UPDATE: Skype Video Messaging preview is now available on Windows 8 as well. Hit up the official blog post for all the details.

Microsoft announced that it’s rolling out a preview of Skype for Outlook.com to those in the UK today. It already integrated Skype into the latest enterprise Outlook software, but now the same functionality will soon be available to regular users on the Web version of Outlook.

The preview version of Skype for Outlook.com will be available soon as a plugin for Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox. The plugin will ask you to connect your Microsoft account with your Skype account, and then you can start video calling people in Outlook. Just look for the usual Skype icons when mousing over a friend’s contact details.

Skype for Outlook.com is just the latest in Microsoft’s mission of integrating Skype into pretty much all of its services. It already merged the old Windows Live Messenger client into Skype, and a rumor emerged earlier this year saying that Xbox chat would be replaced by Skype in the next Xbox.

Skype for Outlook.com is available in the UK starting today, but what about everyone else? Microsoft says that its latest Skype integration will be available to users in the US and Germany in the coming weeks. Everybody else will have to wait until Summer.

Skype announced that its latest update, which went live on March 29, added the ability to block, report or remove contacts. Some Skype users abuse the service to send spam or malicious messages so the block functionality is much appreciated.

Of course, blocking contacts in Windows 8 is a little different than usual, but it’s still pretty easy to do:

To block a contact, select the person’s name to open up the chat window. Bring up the command bar by swiping at the top or bottom of your screen (or right click), and select block. You may also choose whether you want to remove or report the contact request as spam.

If you find yourself needing more help, you can check out Skype’s handy tutorial on blocking and reporting contacts here.

Beyond the newly added contact blocking functionality, Skype for Windows 8 also received a number of bug fixes for the following issues:

If you have yet to upgrade, you can grab Skype for Windows 8 from the Windows Store.

To further the cause of space exploration and communication, Skype announced a new service that lets space explorers connect to those who matter most. It’s called Skype into Space and it brings the “best parts of Skype… into the cosmos.”

Of course, communicating in space does present some unique challenges so Skype is introducing a number of new features to accomodate space travel:

You’ve probably already guessed as much, but this is indeed Skype’s April Fools’ Day prank. Unfortunately, Skype didn’t build an elaborate landing page for its new fake service. All we have is the above image of what Skype into Space may one day look like when we are actually able to travel further through space and communicate across the cosmos.

The Skype team announced today that Skype for Windows Phone 8 now supports HD video calling up to 720p. The video quality has even been improved for those on lower end devices with the app now supporting VGA video. You won’t have to worry about setting up video quality settings either as the app will automatically detect your connection speed and choose the appropriate quality.

Other enhancements to video chat include the addition of a landscape mode for calls, as well as the ability to switch between the front and back cameras during a call.

The People Hub on Windows Phone 8 is now integrated into Skype as well. In other words, users no longer have to start up the Skype app to start calling people. Users can now call their Skype contacts straight from the People Hub.

Skype on Windows Phone 8 will now also allow users to switch between accounts by simply tapping on the profile picture. This change was a result of user feedback and Skype says it welcomes such feedback going into the future as it works to add more features to Skype for Windows Phone 8.

Finally, the Skype team has applied a number of fixes to the app to correct a number of errors that users were experiencing:

You can grab the latest version of Skype for Windows Phone 8 here.

Skype announced that version 6.3 is now live for its Windows client. It’s a “maintenance release” which means that you won’t be seeing any major new features added, but the fixes contained therein are sure to make Skype a more stable and friendlier experience:

Despite all of the above fixes, Skype 6.3 does have one little problem. The software can no longer display birthday notifications on Windows. There is no current workaround, but it shouldn’t be too much of a concern. You probably spend a lot of time on Facebook, and it will make sure that you see every birthday notification.

If you don’t have a Skype account yet, you can grab the latest version here. If you do, it should download the update the next time you open the software.

In a post on the Skype Big Blog today, Microsoft says that it will start to upgrade Messenger to Skype on Windows desktop starting April 8. The extension gives the stragglers a little more time to make their peace with the dying service. The upgrade process will take a few weeks so those using non-English versions will have a few more weeks. The company expects to finish the upgrades on April 30 withe the Brazilian Portugese client being upgraded last.

For those still concerned about the move, Microsoft offers a reason not to be. All the same features you enjoyed in Windows Live Messenger will be in Skype upon your arrival. You will also get the added benefit of many Skype features that were not in Messenger, including:

OK, so that sounds pretty good. You want to migrate to Skype now, but you just don’t know how. Microsoft has cooked up this easy to follow tutorial on how to migrate your Messenger account to Skype. Check it out.

Microsoft is sure to issue more warnings as we move closer to the April 8 migration date so you might as well migrate over now. It’s better than having to receive notifications in your Messenger client every day. Might as well welcome the assimilation instead of fighting it.

Reporters without Borders, The EFF, The Action Network and others have sent an open letter to Skype asking the company to clarify its position on the privacy of its users’ communications. The letter states that the service’s users “work in the face of persistently unclear and confusing statements about the confidentiality of Skype conversations, and in particular the access that governments and other third parties have to Skype user data and communications.”

The advocacy groups pushing for more information are concerned that Skype launching on multiple platforms could have worrisome implications for more than just desktop users’ privacy. In fact, Skype will be replacing Windows Live Messenger soon, and it’s rumored to replace Xbox Live chat on the Xbox 360.

The letter calls on Skype to release a transparency report that includes the following information:

Quantitative data regarding the release of Skype user information to third parties, disaggregated by the country of origin of the request, including the number of requests made by governments, the type of data requested, the proportion of requests with which it complied — and the basis for rejecting those requests it does not comply with.

Specific details of all user data Microsoft and Skype currently collects, and retention policies.

Skype’s best understanding of what user data third-parties, including network providers or potential malicious attackers, may be able to intercept or retain.

Documentation regarding the current operational relationship between Skype with TOM Online in China and other third-party licensed users of Skype technology, including Skype’s understanding of the surveillance and censorship capabilities that users may be subject to as a result of using these alternatives.

Skype’s interpretation of its responsibilities under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), its policies related to the disclosure of call metadata in response to subpoenas and National Security Letters (NSLs), and more generally, the policies and guidelines for employees followed when Skype receives and responds to requests for user data from law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the United States and elsewhere.

The letter’s demands aren’t that absurd. Google, Twitter and others already release frequent transparency reports that detail how much user information is requested from them by governments around the world. In fact, Google just released its latest transparency report that revealed government requests for data have increased yet again.

It’s likely that government requests to Skype for user data have increased in the last year as well. It’s not unreasonable to ask for government requests for user data be made known. We should at least know how many requests are being made every six months. If anything, it will endear Skype to the public even more, and make Microsoft look like it cares about its users.

The Skype team announced today that Skype 6.1 for Windows now features Outlook integration. What does this mean? All of your Skype contacts’ information, including online status and mood message, will be displayed on the Outlook contact card. You can also call any landline or mobile phone via Skype in Outlook regardless of the contact being friends on Skype. For Skype messaging and calls, however, they will have to be your friend on Skype.

Skype integration is available on Outlook 2010 or higher. The team says that Outlook will automatically connect you with others over Skype when email details match between the two.

Beyond the Outlook integration, Skype 6.1 features a number of other additions. For one, it’s now easier to add new contacts in Skype. Instead of choosing the option to add new contact and searching from there; you can search within your contacts list and a list of approximate results will pop up. The profile page has also been updated to make it easier to find your account data.

You can grab the newest version of Skype for Windows here. If you extensively use Outlook, you might want to anyway as Microsoft is also integrating WIndows Live Messenger into the communications client. Besides, it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft starts integrating more of its services into Skype.

In an email being sent out to Messenger users today, Microsoft says that the service will be killed off on March 15. Until then, it’s encouraged that users still clinging to Messenger make the necessary preparations before moving to Skype. The move is really quite simple, and will only take a few minutes.

To start the move, just download the newest version of Skype from its Web site or from the banner ad in Messenger. From there, sign in using the same Microsoft Account you used for Messenger. Skype will automatically merge the accounts and pull over all of your old contacts into Skype.

So, what will happen to those who forget to switch over to Skype before March 15? Those who attempt to sign in to Messenger after the kill date will be taken to a page to install Skype. From there, Skype will install while uninstalling Messenger from your computer.

Of course, you may be ready to just ditch Messenger, Skype and other clients altogether. Firefox and Chrome now both feature support for WebRTC, the HTML5 equivalent of Skype and other messaging clients.

[h/t: The Next Web]