Skype

Along with Jason, I’d like to officially request that my buddies start using Skype as at least as one of (if not their main) IM client.

Why?

Well, to start off with, it’s got a ton of support worldwide and is not backed by one of the big software companies. I find that attractive.

In addition, all communication across the network (to include both voice chat and regular IM) is encrypted using 256-bit AES. That’s wicked stout, for anyone who’s not up on the encryption thing.

Last but not least, the voice chat using Skype is vastly superior to anything you’ve used before. It’s utterly amazing. Using a decent mic/headphone combo you can literally have regular “phone” conversations with up to 3 other people at the same time.

In short, Skype is the real deal IM app. Go and check it out at http://www.skype.com; there are versions for Windows, OS X, and Linux.