Not everybody likes Skype version 5 for Macintosh; many have reverted to a perfectly good previous version that doesn't eat up as much screen real estate as the new one does: Version 2.8. This one is what I am using.
Quit and Trash version 5, then download and install _2.8_. And breathe a sigh of relief.
Mark_
12:39 08 November 2011