Launching today, the newest version’s main improvements are to the audio engine.

“In the real world, this translates to significantly reduced background noise, less delay, fewer call drops, and fewer cut-outs – especially when both sides are using 3.8,” a crystal-clear Skype spokeswoman said today.

“And if you change your headset, headphones or microphone, there's no need to mess around with sound settings. 3.8 takes care of it behind the scenes.”

The release also includes a number of video-related bug fixes, as well as Skype’s own UPnP implementation and other tweaks.

Skype has also made a minor change to protect users from offensive images.

“One technologically minor but user-friendly change is this: by default, we’ve hidden the user's profile image in incoming authorization requests,” the spokeswoman said.

“Some people have been using offensive images, so we decided to put them behind a veil. You can still see the hidden avatar if you click on it.”

The spokeswoman added that even if you're happy with an older version of Skype, the company recommended upgrading to the latest version.