I also have Skype and we talk to our daughter-in-law in Italy. She is there with our 10 month old grandbaby that we've never met in person. However, since downloading Skype, we get to talk to the D-I-L and our granddaughter. It's free and is the next best thing to chocolate.
Darlene....I'm not sure what MSN has that compares to Skype. All I know is that Skype is a video/audio way of communicating with anyone - anywhere. You need a microphone and camera, also. Very easy to set up. Good way to communicate with those family members/friends that you have to travel so far to see! It also allows you to just send chat messages instantly if you don't want the camera on. You can also take snapshots of the screen while talking to someone on the other end and then later print those pictures. Try it. I know you will like it. I'm sure there is a lot more to Skype that I don't know about. Maybe someone else can fill you in on those things.
What has MSN got to offer that would compare??