Η Microsoft released today a new edition of Skype Alpha for Linux. This is a completely redesigned software that has nothing in common with the previous version Skype 4.3 that has been around for years now. 
The application is still in the early stages of development and lacks some basic features, such as video calls or sharing screen.
The new Skype according to the change log for the 1.5 version highlights the following improvements and fixes:
The vocals messages sound are working.
The emojis work with sound.
You can now turn off notification tones and turn off message notifications completely from Settings.
Disabled drag&drop to URL in Skype which opens a program browsing in practice.
Status icon sizes have improved in some distributions.
The new version of the Linux communications application shows a shift of developers from the Qt framework they use to web technologies. So this version uses the Electron platform, Chromium and Node.js.
You can download the updated application from the following link:
