Microsoft's Skype Group has updated its Mac OS X app to version 5.6, adding a few minor interface tweaks and features, but leaving the mostly maligned UI intact. On the video calling front, 5.6 adds an option to switch between dynamic and non-dynamic modes when five or more people are on an a call. With dynamic mode on, the person talking will be automatically moved to the top of the screen. We can imagine this feature playing nice with the new full-screen mode that Lion users can take advantage of. On the audio side, users can now disable automatic gain control for mics, which should help reduce background noise on conference calls. The app is also adding more granular controls for deleting conversations, as individual messages within conversations, as well as conversations from the sidebar and history can now be removed. Lastly, starting with version 5.6, Microsoft will be able to automatically push small bug fixes and critical updates to the app.

The addition of automatic updating brings Skype for Mac almost to feature parity with Skype 5.8 for Windows, with Microsoft users still getting an exclusive on push-to-talk shortcuts, Bing Bar integration, and 1080p video calls. The update comes in at 22.7MB, which is relatively large for such a minor update. It's available now.