Microsoft announced that in the coming weeks, it will release the initial version of the Skype Universal Windows Platform Preview app to Windows Insiders.

This was created after collecting and analyzing feedback from the consumer preview of Skype Integration for Windows 10. The company says it learned a lot from that preview, and that informed the new preview app.

“The integration enabled us to give people the fastest path to what they want to do with Skype,” a blog post from the Skype Team says. “We took advantage of the mobile paradigm with one app per task, such as the Phone app, Maps app, and so on. With this in mind, we released built-in, task oriented apps. This approach worked well in research: people saw value in single mode apps that promised a lighter weight and speedier path from intent to completion.”

“But what we also learned from this feedback is that as the screen size gets bigger—large tablets, 2 in 1s and PCs for example—and you begin to use the apps, expectations shift and people want to limit app clutter,” it adds. “And like that, you once again want an app that lets you do anything you want within the comfort of one window. This is why we are introducing the Skype Universal Windows Platform app.”

The look and feel have been simplified, and redundant menus have been eliminated. Global menus are now in a single Settings menu, and Skype says contextual menus will appear in upcoming releases.

The feature list for the current release looks like this:

– Sign in with your Microsoft Account and link a Skype ID
– Show and change your availability
– See a list of your existing Skype contacts
– Initiate a chat with anyone in your contact list
– See that the other person is typing
– Logout
– Make one-to-one voice and video calls and send messages
– Personalize your experience with emoticons and Mojis
– Send photos
– See notifications for incoming calls and messages outside of the app
– Participate in existing group chats

Read the blog post for more about what to expect from upcoming releases. You can also find more in the FAQ document here.

Image via Skype