Category: Geeks r Us
From: gw-news@gwmicro.com
Dear fans and supporters of GWConnect.
We were notified by Microsoft earlier today that support for SkypeKit,
the heart of GWConnect, ended yesterday, July 31, 2014 and no further
updates will be available. In addition, on Monday August 4, 2014
SkypeKit will stop working which means GWConnect will also stop
working. We were hoping for a different outcome but this is beyond our
control. We also hoped for a greater warning but again, we just became
aware today.
Everyone who purchased a 12-month license for GWConnect will receive a
prorated refund. In other words, if 11 months ago you purchased the
12-month license, your refund will be much smaller than the person who
purchased it today. There are no 1 month licenses that ran for less
than 1 month so those are not affected. We will contact everyone who is
receiving a refund as quickly as possible.
We sincerely wished for a different ending but we truly thank all of you
who supported this fine product. Please stay in touch with us as we
continue to provide new and better products in the future.
Best Regards,
Your AI Squared team
Well, in a few hours, Monday will be over. I've had GW Connect running all day, wondering what would happen when it stopped working. Nothing seems to have changed. It's been working as it always has. So I wonder what's really going on here? Unless it stops working within the next few hours or so, which is still very possible.
It is Tuesday, and I've not yet seen Skype update. I understand this program is stand alone.
In that case Skype will have to be updated to drop it's ability to operate.
I'd love a follow up on this as to when it does stop working.
Its now Wednesday, and I'm sat on a Skype ccall with no issue what so ever. I think we should embrace this luck. haha. Here's to hoping to a complete turn around in their choosing to shut it down.
I don't know why people need a more adaptive Skype client. The Skype desktop cto chat to them press enter on a name. To call just choose the call option from the menus. It isn't complicated.lient works fine for me. You log in and your contacts are right there.
The only reason I've been using it the past month or so is because of a problem with my age old laptop I'm having to use while my new one gets fixed. The only advantage I can see with GW is the fact that you don't have to deal with as many lists. Things are more readily available for you to use. That said, I'd much rather use the main program.
wow I'm sorry to hear that. i used gw connect for skype and just noticed it didn't connect i was about to ask anyone if they knew what was wrong but I'm glad I stopped by the board to read this message hope something good will come along soon
Well, I've been using the regular Skype client for the past couple days. I swore up and down that I wouldn't, but I decided to try it.
No, it's not that bad, but there are a few annoyances. First, I have the JAWS scripts installed, but even when I have 2 chat conversations open, control tab doesn't work. So I have to keep hitting control 1 to go back to the contact list, hit enter on the person's name, and keep doing that as I switch back and forth between the two chat sessions. This is extremely annoying. In GW, at least, conversations were in separate windows, and you could just alt tab to them.
The second, equally annoying problem is that the regular Skype client refuses to exit. This is ok sometimes, because I usually have Skype running until I want to shut down my computer anyway. But I also want to sign off at times without having to either shut down my computer or end the process in task manager. I've tried alt f4, clicking close in the Skype menu, and clicking close in the system menu, but it won't close. I also don't really want to sign out to make it close, if that even works, because I don't want to have to enter my username and password each time I run the program.
Related to that, there is no option that I can find to make Skype minimize to the system tray. I don't like having it in the list of things that I alt tab to. It seems like it's in the way.
next, I really don't see the point of the Skype home. There really should be a way to disable that. Aim's equivalent is easy to get rid of. But this is just a minor problem, seeing as how I can just hit control 1 and get directly to my contact list.
Other than that, I don't mind it as much as I thought I would. Tabbing around in the chat window can be annoying sometimes, but I guess that's just a matter of learning the script commands to make it easier.
With regards to your conversation problem, You can have them all in separate windows by going to your view menu, and selecting compact view. The fact that it won't go away is a bit anoying for me, but I don't even think about it any more. I just set my status to offline if I don't want to use it at the time. That way I don't have to repetativly enter my info.
To put Skype in the system tray do the following:
Go to Tools | Options and in the tree press the end key, then up arrow four times to Advanced: Advanced settings. Then tab to the check box Keep Skype in the task bar when signed in, something like that has the word task bar, and uncheck that box, then tab to save and hit enter.
Actually I do that and then under Global Hotkeys I set a keystroke to bring Skype to the foreground called Focus Skype window, it's a Skype thing also, so I can benefit from both having it in the tray and bringing it to the foreground when I want.
Then, when you're done with a Skype window, just close it alt+f4.
And I echo what was said about View -> Compact view. You alt tab between the windows as each conversation is in its own window.
I like the compact view because I can keep conversations in separate Windows.
See, all your problems have solutions.
This information is in the script FAQ. If you press F1 twice quickly, it opens up for your reading pleasure.
Also, as a test, I deliberately tried to update Skype past the version I have, and it has not been changed yet.
I did see on Skype, if you are having problems logging in, you must update, so I suppose they'll be sending down a new one soon.
I'm interested in the outcome.
Yeah, I'm sort of interested to know if everyone who paid for the ad-free GW Connect already received their refunds, or if they're waiting until the next Skype update is available.
thanks for the tip about the system tray. For some reason that one slipped right by me, and I thought I looked through all the settings.
I'll test out compact view here in a couple minutes.
As for Skype home, well, like I said, it's not really a huge issue, but I saw that you can uncheck it in the view menu. At least, you're supposed to be able to, but it doesn't work. It's probably there for ad revenue, though, which is why it can't be disabled.
I do still think it's bad practice to make it so that a program can't be exited except through force, but I guess the good outweighs the bad in this situation. Not to mention that it's either get used to it or give up using Skype entirely.
You don't uncheck, you check the one you wish to be on.
Example, if you want to see contacts, check that. Messages, check that.
Skype home is easy closed. You press alt F4 and it goes away.
Also in your settings, you can decide not to see adds and such.
Some already got their refund on the mail, as early as tuesday. Wonder what happen if you try to install GWConnect now? Hmm. :P
Hey, I just discovered that, with Skype in the system tray, there's a quit option that works!
I'm really glad I found that.
Some contacts report that GWConnect no longer working. It reject their log in, with the
massage that Skype Service is not available... So, i guess, it is R.I.P for GWConnect, for
the moment.
Hi,
I agreed with post 5.
And well, to close Skype quickly, press alt shift plus f4 twice. this will unload Skype complete from your computer and from your system tray.
Compared to GWConnect, Skype is bloated and I still say a peace of crapware when compared to GWConnect. It has all sorts of unnecessary, irrelevant, stupid crap that no one wants. Why should I have to uncheck some stupid box so that my search engine doesn't get set to Bing? Why would I want some dumb ass tool bar? What's the big deal about leaving the API open for other programs to utilize the service? Is it useable, sure, but not as easy and certainly more resource intensive. All that said, I think Skype is a bit more aware of accessibility now than they were a couple of years ago. With the iOS app, for example, one of the developers is actively engaging with the people on Applevis to try and make it more usable. So, I'll hope the bloatware at least continues to function and that they don't break crap again.
I find Skype totally usable on both PC and my iPhone.
On my iPhone, I am impressed that I can use all it's features easy.
I updated to the latest version on the iPhone recently, and it still works great. I've not run in to a situation where there was something I couldn't do yet.
I do agree about the bloatware, and that it takes up an unnecessary amount of system resources. But I don't see a need to complain about it. Firefox is a huge resource hog, but there's no way I'm giving that up. It's really all a matter of what's most important to you, though. if you have a computer with only 2gb of RAM and a slow processor, then you have every right to complain. On the other hand, it's easy and cheap enough nowadays to upgrade that stuff, so maybe not.
Also, if you don't want toolbars and crap to install, there's a really simple way to prevent that. Google a program called Unchecky. It's free, and should take care of that problem nicely.
I just uncheck the box while installing it.
Sure, you can do that. But the program I mentioned detects toolbars and stuff with every program you install, and filters them out so that you never even have to uncheck those boxes. In Skype's case, at least, that checkbox is accessible, and right there. Some other programs are really sneaky about putting stuff you don't want onto your computer.
I have not use Skyype for destop for ages. But there are some feature on Skype for desttop that i would like on the App. For example, the ability to remove and delete contacts. That is one feature that i would really, really, like to see on Skype mobile app.
To remove a contact.
Go to the contact you wish to remove and open it as if sending them a message.
In the bottom right corner tap on the menu.
Select profile.
Tap on the menu button again, and you’ll find the option to remove the contact.
Tap that and it will tell you it will be removed.
Tap remove.
Your wish has been granted!
Smile.
Welp, gw quit workin' over here. No more Buna the jabbering monkey for me. Yay!
Here is a shorter/quicker way to remove a contact.
Open the contact as if sending a message.
In the top left hand you’ll find the back button and also the contacts name and status button right next to it.
It is just a little to the right.
Tap the contact name and status button.
Next in the bottom right corner tap the menu button.
In there you’ll find remove contact.
It seems that when ever you are in a profile if you tap the menu button the option to remove the contact becomes available.
How come Jaws won't read a chat message word by word when I press insert left arrow, right arrow, etc? And yes, I've tried both Skype talking and with just the scripts.
matt
let's say you wanna read the last message sent word by word. hit alt+1 twice quickly. this will open the entire conversation in the buffer with focus on the last message. you can then review it word by word, copy, paste etc.
you can do this for the last 10 messages sent, by using alt+1 thru 0 respectively. remember this opens your entire conversation, so you can review the entire thing and do what you like with the text in it, as you desire.
Note: this works with the scripts installed and not without them.
Also if you can find the conversation, you read it exactly as you read anything else using Jaws. Insert and munber 4 or number 6 on a full keyboard.
Laptop you have to use the laptop key strokes.
I agree with KC8PNL, in post 19. Thanks, GreenTurtl, for giving me the right to complain, in post 21. *smile* I am using an Asus 1015E with 2gb ram and a celleron processor, and I don't appreciate all the bloated garbage from Skype. But even if I was using my Elitebook 2540P, with 4gb of ram and a much better processor, I still wouldn't like it. I hate the new interface, the unnecessary options, the hoops that I have to go through to do common tasks like quitting, reviewing the conversation, getting to contacts, and so on. Yes, the options are there, and I sincerely thank all of you for explaining them. But I am an NVDA and System Access user, so some of these shortcuts may not work, and I shouldn't have to go through all of that just to use the program, especially when it used to work fine and was once much cleaner. I hope that GW Connect will work once I get Windows 7 back. If not, then I will Use Windows Live Messenger for as long as I can, and then switch to something else decent. I will definitely be installing Unchecky on here and saving the exe for my other computers. Thanks so much!
I have 4gb RAM, and I still don't appreciate the bloatware. But I can see how a slower computer/processor would make life much more difficult for you in regards to using any resource-intensive program. This is actually why I'm going to upgrade my current machine to Windows 7 64 bit soon. I previously installed more RAM, because I was unaware at the time that 32 bit editions of Windows could only handle up to 4gb. So, because I'm using the regular version of Skype, plus a couple of other resource hogs like Firefox and Q-Feed on a regular basis, I'm just trying to bite the bullet and make the experience as smooth as possible.
You're welcome for the recommendation of Unchecky. It's a neat little program that I appreciate very much.
2GB ram works just fine with Skype.
The problem most users have is internet speed.
If your internet speed isn't good enough, Skype doesn't work as well.
Hopefully the poster above has a 64 bit machine. You can't install 64 bit Windows on a 32 bit machine and it works. You'll just end up with 32 bit windows.
My Asus 1015E, which I'm using right now, is a 64bit machine. But I'll be getting my Elitebook 2540P back, which is 64bit and which is extremely fast. So that problem, at least, will be solved. Still, I intend on using that as a desktop replacement for now, not as my main computer. I also still have to deal with the other Skype annoyances. Hopefully, I will be able to log into GW Connect and have it work.
Yes, it's a 64 bit machine.
Most computers sold in the past couple of years are 64-bit capable, but I double-checked on HP's website, since that's what this computer is. Mostly, I just want it to be more powerful than it currently is. With 8gb RAM, I shouldn't have any problems with sluggishness or anything.
i doubt you'll be able to usw u s use GW connect ever again. mine already quit and wont sign in anymore, so i uninstalled it.
No, you won't be able to log into GW connect. Oh wait, the bitch is ignoring me. Never mind.
turtle, you'll want 64 bit on there. it'll run nice with the extra ram.
My apologies forereel. I should have paid more attention to your post and realised that you were referring to GreenTurtle. You did say "the poster above". That said, at least I got an answer on GW Connect. So unless I can find a work-around, as I did with Messenger, it looks like I'll be seeking another program entirely.
Yep, definitely. This is probably a really stupid question, but if I upgrade to 64 bit, will the activation code that originally came with my computer work to activate that? Or will I have to purchase a new license in order to use 64 bit Windows on this computer?
I'm confused some. If you purchased the system new from HP and you say it is a 64 bit computer, why doesn't it already have 64 bit Windows installed?
Normally the computer company installs the correct bit version for the machine they build. If your’s is different, I’d be interested to learn why?
To answer your question, when you upgrade you will just be adding features.
I assume you are using Windows 7. Use the upgrade anytime feature, buy the upgraded version, and it will become available.
Changing Windows will not make your computer work better, it just adds features.
If your computer came with 32 bit Windows, it is most likely a 32 bit computer.
Again, I’ll assume we are talking Windows 7, so go check.
Off the top of my head here is how.
Go to computer, but don’t open it.
Press your applications key and arrow down to properties.
Open this and turn on the Jaws cursor to read what you’ve got in there.
I’d be interested to know what you mean, and how it all comes out.
Let me ask my question a bit better.
Okay. It is possible and just fine to install a 32 bit version of Windows on a 64 bit computer.
As you pointed out, you don't get to use all the memory though and can only access 4GB on it, or a bit less actually.
Here is what I'm asking.
If you purchased a new computer from HP direct and that computers is a 64 bit, why would HP install a 32 bit Windows on it?
Have you upgraded the processor/motherboard or something since you've had it, so now want to use all the ram possible?
If in fact, you have a 32 bit windows installed and buy a 64 bit version of Windows, you'll have to just change the product key.
Your product key for your 32 bit version should be usable on another machine.
That is better. Lol
I'm really interested.
Oh, I can see why you're confused.
I was told by a couple of people that any computer made within the past few years is 64-bit capable. So I just assumed that upgrading would be a matter of reinstalling the OS. I bought this computer almost 2 years ago now, so thought it would be smooth sailing. I actually didn't buy it from HP, I bought it from Tiger Direct. But that's not really important.
But now that I checked the properties, I see that it is a 32 bit system. I'm disappointed. I really wanted to take advantage of the extra RAM.
Technically, I know it wouldn't make the computer run better, but it would at least let me run a few of my favorite programs that are notorious RAM hogs, like Skype and Firefox. Now I can really only run one or the other, if I want my computer to run well, that is. Otherwise, eventually, Firefox ends up crashing or Jaws locks up.
Anyway, that's good information to know about upgrading. I suppose if I want to take advantage of all the RAM I installed, I'd have to get a new computer, which I can't really afford to do right now.
Okay, I see what you mean.
It is possible to buy a 32 bit machine even now.
Sure, more usable ram means better power, but 32 bit doesn’t equal bad.
All web, activities can run easy on most 32 bit machines, it is just some require better or faster processors.
I don’t know your system specs, but I’d be willing to bet your Skype and Firefox, and other desires have nothing at all to do with you having a 32 bit computer.
You are running Windows7, and the specs to run Skype for desktop are really low.
I don’t know exactly what causes your issues, but the first thing I’d do is remove all that ram and put the correct amount and type back in the machine.
Next, I’d clean it up.
You don’t need a new computer, you just need that one tuned up.
Did you know that much of the software installed on 64 bit systems is 32 bit software?
Lots of other stuff goes with all this, but there you have it, the basics.
It’ll do really fine.
If you don't know how, or don't have someone that can do this stuff for you, take it to an office supply store or computer shop and have it tuned up.
That's strange. I can still run Skype and Firefox together, with nothing crashing, and I only have 2gb of ram and a low-powered processor. Two years old certainly isn't old enough for me to think it's the age of the computer.
Skype system requirements.
Windows 8 and 8.1 require a bit more power. That is only if you run the modern vbersion however.
When they say quad core the mean any processor with more than one. Most laptops now have at least 2.
It does require you have 1.9, GHZ, but this is probably due to video calls smoothness, not chat or generally running Skype.
I have Windows 8.1 and run Skype for Windows desktop, not the modern Skype client.
Skype for Windows Desktop
Version
Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista
Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit versions supported)*
Windows 8♦
Windows 8.1
Processor
At least 1 GHz
RAM
At least 512 MB
Additional software
DirectX v9.0 or above
* If you're using Windows 7 (SP1), upgrade your Internet Explorer to v11.
♦ If you’re using Windows 8 Enterprise N or KN follow this guide.
Skype for modern Windows
Version
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Processor
1.9 GHz Quad-core processor
RAM
At least 1 GB