I don't use Linux as a main OS either, but as a OS X user who frequents the Terminal, I consider all *nix OS's my brethren.
I don't know... I have mixed feelings here. On the one hand, Microsoft does have some talented programmers when they manage to have a good idea. The problem is that they tend to lack good ideas and ruin a lot of their acquisitions (KIN, anyone?). MS should also be able to throw a lot more developers and money at Skype than the previous owners, but that doesn't necessarily mean improvement.
Beyond that, what is MS's history with Linux compatibility? They're decent, if niggardly, with their OS X support, but I can't recall any MS products with good Linux support. With Linux's supremacy in the server space, I would hope that MS has some compatibility with its products, but I've never heard of any consumer-oriented MS product that's available on Linux (though to be fair, Apple doesn't have any either, but they also have a better history of implementing open source products, e.g., Webkit, that can be used easily and extensively on fellow *nix's). I may not use Linux myself, but know a lot of people (yeah, fellow students and professors) that do and rely on Skype for communication when face-to-face isn't possible.
Anyway, I hope they deliver.
Of course, in my ideal world, Apple would have already released the Facetime specifications as an open standard (since it's "built on them" and seems to be a lot more bandwidth/cpu-friendly than any other video-chat I've tried) and MS (motivated by its lack of presence in the smartphone space, and their common enemy Android) would incorporate Facetime into a new Skype spec, leaving Google as the lone holdout, who would (hopefully) eventually succumb, finally giving US peeps a video calling standard. But, alas, I dream.
