Skype's Outlook.com integration takes one step forward, one step back

A few weeks back, Microsoft integrated Skype into Outlook.com and it was nothing short of a disaster. With limited functionality, no way to turn off alerts and messages not syncing read notifications, it was perplexing that Microsoft shipped the feature. But, the company is back and has updated Skype and now allows you to turn off notifications.

This basic feature makes the integration much more palatable in Outlook.com as you no longer receive duplicate sounds on your PC if you have a local client open. It"s a small update but one that will keep many people from going insane; to turn off notifications click the orange microphone you see above.

But, while the service is taking a step forward, it has also taken a small step backward too. The Outlook.com tab will also now occasionally flash "0 New IMs" which requires you to manually clear the non-notification by clicking somewhere in the Skype window to make the tab stop flashing.

Hopefully, this bug will be ironed out soon as it makes for yet another annoying experience while trying to use the built-in messaging service.

The update is rolling out and hopefully the team behind this feature will continue pushing out updates at a feverish pace, so that Skype inside of Outlook.com is less annoying for those who do not want to use it.