By Peter Cohen,

Skype has introduced a new beta version of its popular conference application for the Mac. Skype 5.0 beta is now ready for download.

The new version of Skype sports a significant interface change – it now employs a single window and a “sidebar” iTunes-style design. Address Book access is now integrated, and a floating “Dial Pad” and mini control bar float free above any windows you have open.

Perhaps most significantly, Skype 5.0 for Mac now supports group video calling (all users must have Skype 5.0 for either Mac or Windows installed). The group calling feature will look familiar to users of iChat AV who have tried group video chats – multiple windows appear in a curved array.

Skype 5.0 for Mac beta requires a 1GHz Intel processor or faster, Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later, 100MB free disk space. Voice and video calls have bandwidth requirements also – more details are available from the Web site.