Get started: Since Skype isn't browser-based, you have to download and install the . Then you need to obtain a username, if you don't already have one. Creating an account is pretty simple: Just click Don't have a Skype Name? and go through the steps.

Once you have a Skype name, you can log in and start chatting right away. To start a video chat, click on the friend you want to chat with, and then click the Video Call button.

Add a contact: You can easily add a contact in Skype. Go to Contacts, New Contact and search for your friend by their email address, Skype username, or full name. You can also search your Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo email address books by going to Contacts, Import Contacts.

Adjust the video: One nice thing about Skype's desktop client is that it allows you to adjust your webcam's settings for a better picture. Go to Tools, Options, Video settings, and you'll see some basic options, including a feature for taking a snapshot with your webcam. To make further tweaks, go to Webcam settings. In that window, you can adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, hue, saturation, sharpness, image quality, white balance, and flicker. You can also choose whether to mirror or flip the image, or to go black and white. These settings will carry over to the next time you use your webcam, too, so if you want to change your webcam settings for Google chat, here's where to do it.

You should use Skype if you like tweaking your webcam settings, you want only a video-chatting service, and you plan to call landlines or cell phones on occasion.