Skype Details Problems, Says Outage May Take Hours to Fix | Ina Fried | Mobilized | AllThingsD

Skype’s first major outage since 2007 – although I’ve noticed it has been a bit flaky over the last couple weeks, especially when connecting Windows and Mac users

The issue, Skype said, is that its service, unlike a regular phone or even instant messaging service, relies on millions of individual connections, including many especially important computers known as “supernodes.”

“Under normal circumstances, there are a large number of supernodes available,” Skype said in an explanatory blog post on its Web site. “Unfortunately, today, many of them were taken offline by a problem affecting some versions of Skype. As Skype relies on being able to maintain contact with supernodes, it may appear offline for some of you.”

Skype Details Problems, Says Outage May Take Hours to Fix | Ina Fried | Mobilized | AllThingsD