Downloads: Christmas crackers: Skype

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Christmas is all about family and friends, but it is often not possible to get together with everyone you would like. If you're missing someone and want to keep in touch over the festive season, there's no better way to do it than with Skype.

The program shows just how far communication tools have come in recent years, making it possible to conduct not only text-based chats online, but also phone calls and video calls.

The best experience comes when you connect with other Skype users, as this opens up the opportunity to conduct multi-user video chats; this gives family spread around the world the chance to get together in a single conversation window.

But Skype can also be used to place calls to regular landlines. Whether you want to chat with a friend in the next town, an uncle at the other end of the country, or a sibling on the other side of the world, making calls through Skype is usually significantly cheaper than placing a regular landline call.

With versions of the software available for desktop Windows, Windows 8 and a host of mobile devices, Skype makes it easier than ever to keep in touch with the ones you love.