Following on with the messaging / communications theme, it's about time I blogged Gizmo, which I hope will soon be kicking some Skype ass.
I first played with Gizmo a while back, but didn't blog it as it was Mac-only then, and hence a bit pointless, as most people have online friends that don't have a Mac. Now, however, Gizmo supports Mac, Windows and Linux, and so is firmly positioned to give Skype a run for it's money.
Why is Gizmo better? - there are 2 main reasons from where I'm sitting:
1 - It uses proper, Open Standards SIP protocols, as opposed to Skype's proprietary network.
2 - It looks and feels nicer than Skype (on the Mac at least).
Audio quality is as good as Skype, and Gizmo also has some really nice little features that Skype doesn't. Oh, and Skype is by the same people that did Kazaa, which loses it points in my book.
Give Gizmo a go, and tell your friends - you might like it.
Update:
It's almost like the forces of openness have been reading my blog: apparently Gizmo and Google Talk will be inter-operable, meaning that you will be able to talk to your Gizmo buddies from Google Talk and vice-versa.