Finally after what seemed forever, Skype users can now make video calls from within their Web browser via Outlook.com. Microsoft has been teasing this feature for months, so to see it available for public consumption makes us giddy with excitement ... though a little bit disappointed as well.

Skype video calling preview is available right now; however, it will only work if you have a UK or German Outlook.com account. For those with a United States account, the service will find its way to your fingertips in the coming weeks. The rest of the world will be forced to wait it out for a few months before having the chance to make Skype video calls from an Outlook.com account.

"With the preview version of Skype for Outlook.com you can enjoy Skype video and audio calls right from your inbox — less typing, more talking! For those of you that aren't familiar, Outlook.com is a free personal email service from Microsoft. In the first six months after launch, Outlook.com attracted 60 million new users, making it the fastest-growing email service in history," said the Skype official blog.

While many Internet users prefer doing most tasks within the Web browser, sometimes one has to download a plug-in to make certain features function as required. This is the problem with Skype for Outlook.com: users will be asked to download a plug-in which is available for the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

If it turns out you have both a Skype and Microsoft account, Outlook.com will guide you through the step-by-step motions to have your accounts linked. It will also add your Skype contacts to your Outlook.com contacts for easy access.

Skype makes a big deal about video calling in Outlook.com; however, the software company didn't once mention if the IM messenger is replaced with Skype IM for the ability to chat with Skype friends from within the Web browser. We'd like to think both Microsoft and Skype have thought this through, as some users tend to IM more than video calling.