Microsoft has officially released Skype for Business for Mac on October 26th, 2016. You can find the official download link here:.
Topic Last Modified: 2017-05-03
Summary: Skype for Business Server 2015 or Skype for Business Online administrators can use these tables to understand what features are supported on which clients.
Before you deploy or upgrade to Skype for Business, check which clients are already in use in your organization. Use the tables below to understand the feature support impact on those clients. This can help you communicate changes to users, pace the roll-out process, and fully understand the benefits of upgrading to the latest client.
Some features available with Skype for Business Server 2015 are not available in Skype for Business Online, see Online or Hybrid user accounts for specifics. Skype for Business Online Admins may want to refer to Skype for Business Online Service Description for information on the different plans available to them.
The following tables show the features that are available with each client that works with Skype for Business Server 2015 or Skype for Business Online. You may also want to refer to Mobile client comparison tables for Skype for Business. The Client Access License or User Subscription License your organization purchases will also have an impact on which features are available to your users. Whether you deploy the Full or Basic client to users depends on the license or plan your organization chooses to buy. See the Licensing Guide for more details.
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| Skype for Business Server 2015 and Skype for Business Online support the following previously released clients: Lync 2013, Lync 2010, Lync 2010 Mobile, Lync Phone Edition, and Lync 2010 Attendant. For information about these clients when used with other servers, see the Client comparison tables for Lync Server 2013 and Client comparison tables for Lync Server 2010. |
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| The Lync 2010 Attendant client is not supported in Skype for Business Online. |
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| The Skype for Business Web App browser client only provides Meetings support. |
Enhanced Presence support
This table covers the Enhanced Presence features that extend beyond a simple indication of whether a user is online, offline, busy, etc.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Publish and view status | ||
View status based on calendar free/busy information | ||
View status notes and Out of Office messages | ||
Add a custom location | ||
Add a custom note | ||
Use a photo from any public site for My Picture (not available in Skype for Business Online) |
Contacts and Contact Groups support
This table covers the features relating to managing IM and Presence contacts.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Pre-populated Contacts list | ||
View and Modify Contacts list | ||
Tag contacts for status change alerts | ||
Control privacy relationships | ||
Search the corporate address book | ||
Search Microsoft Outlook contacts | ||
Manage contact groups | ||
Expand distribution groups and Office 365 Groups | ||
Search for Response Groups (not available in Skype for Business Online) | ||
Display recent contacts group | ||
Display current conversations group | ||
Display alternate contact views (for example, tile) | ||
Sort contacts by Group, Relationship, or New (people who’ve added you to their Contacts list) | ||
Sort contacts by Status (availability) |
IM support
This table covers features related to IM support.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Initiate IM with or email to a contact | ||
Navigate among multiple IM conversations/Track multiple conversations in a single tabbed window | ||
Log IM conversations in Outlook Start Mini vMac with “Install 1″ disk image of System 7.0.1. From Mini vMac’s File menu, mount the empty 500MB hard disk image. Choose to install System 7.0.1 on the 500MB hard disk image. When prompted, use Mini vMac’s File menu to switch to “Install 2″ and other System 7.0.1 installation disk images. Mini vMac uses 'disk image' files, that hold the information of an emulated disk. For information about using disk images in Mini vMac, see the ' Floppy Drive ' section of the Hardware Reference. This page is about transferring files from the host operating system into and out of disk image files. Mini vmac unlock disk. Download: Disk Images or ROMs These are some MVMAC Disks. The maximum amount of memory is 'MFS', you can open a disk by dragging the extracted disks to the MVMAC window when it asks for disks at startup. The Mini vMac window should fill with a gray pattern, with a picture of a floppy disk in the center, with a blinking question mark on it: Drag the icon of your bootable disk image, “System Startup”, onto the Mini vMac window. Mini vMac (formerly vMac) is a 68K Mac emulator (Macintosh Plus and more recently Macintosh II) capable of booting and emulating the earliest versions of Mac OS from 1.0 to 7.5.5. It was ported to all major platforms including: Windows, DOS, Linux, OS/2, NeXT, Mac OS X and iOS. | If server side conversation history is turned on | |
Use prepared conversation templates | ||
Check spelling | ||
Skill search (with SharePoint Server integration) (On-premises Skype for Business Server and on-premises SharePoint 2013 are required for skill search.) | ||
Persistent Chat (Group Chat) integration (not available for Skype for Business Online) | ||
Escalate a Persistent Chat room to a Skype for Business Meeting with one click (not available for Skype for Business Online) | ||
Inline pictures of sender and receiver in IM window | ||
Send ink messages | ||
Receive ink messages |
Meetings support
This table covers features related to Meetings support.
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Participants can't control desktops that are shared by Lync for Mac 2011 or Communicator for Mac 2011 users. Lync for Mac 2011 and Communicator for Mac 2011 users can control desktops shared by Windows users. This also won't work for Skype for Business Web App on Max OSX.
For Skype for Business Online, this feature requires Microsoft PSTN Conferencing, Exchange Unified Messaging, or a 3rd party audio conferencing provider.
The Lync for Mac 2011 client cannot view Microsoft Office 2013 PowerPoint presentations when they have been shared in a conference by the Skype for Business Web App.
Voice (Telephony) support
This table covers features related to voice services support.
| Note: |
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| Skype for Business Voice (Telephony) features are limited to certain Skype for Business Online subscription plans. For details, see the Skype for Business Online Service Description. |
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Initiate a call | ||
Click to call a contact | ||
Transfer a call | ||
Manage call forwarding | ||
Manage team call settings | ||
Manage delegates | ||
Initiate a call to a Response Group | ||
Support emergency services (E9-1-1) | Requires Skype for Business Server 2015 CU4 | |
Connect to voice mail, set up or change greeting | ||
Missed call notification | ||
Make calls on behalf of another contact (manager/delegate scenario) | ||
Handle another's calls if configured as a delegate | ||
Manage a high volumes of calls | ||
Call park | ||
Group call pickup |
This feature isn't available in Skype for Business Online.
External users support
This table covers features related to support for external users homed on the PSTN.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Initiate IM with a public contact Download skype for mac 10.9.5. Download Install Skype Os X 10.9 - real advice. One of the most advanced and feature rich video communication programs available to Mac users and allows people to connect with both Mac and PC users. Skype is a web-based communication platform that allows users to communicate via standard instant messaging as well as to make video and phone calls for little to no cost. The platform supports group video calls involving up to 25 people and the exchange of documents, images, videos, and other multimedia files for easy, streamlined sharing. Unfortunately, I cannot update my system to a higher version than 10.9.5, because of some compatibility issues with apps I need for my sound designing job. Does that mean that I will never be able to communicate with my clients again using Skype on my main computer? If that’s the case, I strongly advise you to download the new Skype app instead. | ||
Initiate IM with a federated contact | ||
Conduct two-party or multiparty calls with external users (not available in Skype for Business Online) |
Recording support
This table covers features related to support for recording meetings.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Client-side recording of audio, video, application sharing, desktop sharing, and uploaded content | ||
Client-side recording of file transfers, shared OneNote pages, and PowerPoint annotations | ||
Select preferred recording resolution |
Recording is unavailable in certain Skype for Business Online standalone plans. Recording requires full Skype for Business client rights.
Recording of file transfers, shared OneNote pages, and PowerPoint annotations is unavailable in Skype for Business Online.
Archiving, compliance, and logging support
This table covers features related to support for archiving and logging functions.
Feature/capability | Skype for Business 2015 or 2016 client | Skype for Business on Mac |
|---|---|---|
Archiving of IM conversations in Outlook Conversation History | If server side conversation history is turned on | |
Client-side archiving of audio, video, application sharing, desktop sharing, and uploaded content | ||
Client-side archiving of file transfers, shared OneNote pages, and PowerPoint annotations (unavailable in Skype for Business Online) | ||
Access sign-in logs from Skype for Business icon in the task bar |
For Skype for Business Online users, this feature requires Exchange Online and is controlled by the user’s Exchange mailbox In-Place Hold attribute.
Client limitations
Basic client limitations
The features below are available using the Full client and are not available with the Basic client:
Manage team call settings
Manage delegates
Make calls on behalf of another contact (manager/delegate scenario)
Handle another's calls if configured as a delegate
Manage a high volume of calls
Initiate a call to a Response Group
Call park
Group call pickup
Online or Hybrid user account limitations
User accounts can exist either Online or On-premises, and that will affect the features available to that user. Users with accounts on Skype for Business Online will not have access to the following features, even with the Full client:
Enhanced Presence: Use a photo from any public site for My Picture
Contacts: Search for Response Groups
IM Support: Persistent Chat (Group Chat) integration
IM Support: Escalate a Persistent Chat room to a Skype for Business Meeting with one click
External Users: Conduct two-party or multiparty calls with external users
For more information check out this link: PC vs MAC Comparison Chart for Skype4B
-->Introduction
This article describes how to do a clean uninstallation of Microsoft Skype for Business on Mac.
Procedure
To cleanly uninstall Skype of Business on Mac, follow these steps:
Log on to your computer by using administrative credentials.
Exit Skype For Business on Mac if it’s running.
Drag the Skype For Business on Mac application to the Trash.
Remove existing Skype preferences if those hidden files exist. To do so, run the following commands in a Terminal:
- sudo rm -rf /Applications/Skype for Business.app
- sudo rm -rf /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/MeetingJoinPlugin.plugin
- defaults delete com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness true
- rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness
- rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Skype for Business_*
- rm -rf ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness.savedState
- rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness.plist
- rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Skype for Business_*
- rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.microsoft.skypeforbusiness*
- rm -rf ~/Library/Cookies/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness*
- sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness*
- rmdir ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness
- find -f /private/var/db/BootCaches/* -name 'app.com.microsoft.SkypeForBusiness*' -exec sudo rm -rf {} +
In the Applications/Utilities folder, open Keychain Access.
In your logon keychains, delete Skype for Business.
More Information
If you plan to reinstall Skype for Business on Mac later, you can download the program.
Third-party information disclaimer
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.