Yahoo Mail is Yahoo's free, Web-based e-mail service. The newest release feels a lot like a desktop e-mail application: there's a preview pane, and messages can be dragged-and-dropped between folders. Right-clicking the mouse does mail-specific things instead of performing browser actions. There's no longer any concept of paging through your in-box. You can see all of your messages, no matter how many there are, in one big, scrolling list.
Besides e-mail, Yahoo Mail offers users built in instant messaging, weather reports, and an RSS reader that users can parse through as they would their e-mail.
Winner: Yahoo Mail (Mail.Yahoo.com)
Category: Communication
Windows Live Hotmail is the latest iteration of Microsoft's free Web-based e-mail service. The multipane interface lets you drag-and-drop messages into folders, or right-click messages for a menu of options. There's also a "Today" tab of news that loads when you sign in. Windows Live Hotmail even lets you choose a color theme in case you feel like customizing it to match your tastes.
Microsoft has also rolled out some useful features like instant spell-check, a built-in audio player, an RSS feed reader, and previews for Office documents and PDFs. However, what makes Hotmail interesting is its rich history. It was the first real Web mail to hit the mass market before Microsoft bought it up and changed it year over year, including the overhaul back in May of 2007 that took over two years to develop.
Winner: Windows Live Hotmail (Get.Live.com)
Category: Communication
Skype is a text, voice, and video-chatting platform that works using your Internet connection. Skype has branched off from a desktop software solution to work in mobile phones and household phones that just need a Wi-Fi or Internet connection to run. Like instant-messaging clients, Skype gives users a buddy list instead of a set of phone numbers.
Over the years, Skype has also introduced a number of new features. One of the more interesting ones is SkypeOut, a service that lets Skype users call outside numbers, both long distance and international. There's also SkypePrime, a service that lets users create their own pay-by-the-minute lines for expert advice or consulting services.
Winner: Skype (Skype.com)
Category: Communication
This open-source messaging application lets you access multiple IM networks from one window, including Google Talk and MySpaceIM as well as lesser-known protocols such as Jabber and Gadu-Gadu. Formerly known as GAIM, Pidgin is a free and beautiful way to chat with buddies from different networks.
One feature that makes Pidgin stand out from other IM applications is "Buddy Pounce" which lets you set up the application to let you know when certain contacts come online either with a notification or by running a third-party program.
Winner: Pidgin (Pidgin.im)
Category: Communication
OoVoo is a free, standalone desktop chat application that has both a text and video chat capabilities. It can handle as many as six people in one video conference as well as a dozen in the integrated voice chat conference. Users can drop in and out of conversations, and the video windows will scale with a similar effect to iChat's "swoop."
OoVoo also doubles as a video e-mail service. Users can send each other video messages as long as a minute in length that are available right in the application or via e-mail. Users who get the e-mail are also provided a link that takes them to a live Flash version of the video, so they can access it while away from their home computer.
Winner: OoVoo (OoVoo.com)
Category: Communication
Windows Live Messenger is Microsoft's instant-messaging service. Once called MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger is a chat client that also works with Yahoo's IM protocol. Users can text and video chat, as well as make calls to regular telephones. It also has a shared file storage system that lets users swap and store files.
Windows Live Messenger is available on several platforms including mobile phones. It's even been integrated into Microsoft's gaming console, the Xbox 360. All versions require users to sign up with Microsoft's Live ID identification system.
Winner: Windows Live Messenger (Get.Live.com)
Category: Communication
Meebo is a multinetwork instant-message service that runs in your browser window. It emulates the look and feel of similar software services, yet requires no download or installation. You can also "pop out" your chat windows and buddy list, just in case you want to escape the confines of your browser.
In 2007, Meebo launched an application platform, letting developers create applications and services that tie into Meebo's chat architecture. At launch there a small handful of video and voice chat tools. Since then there are nearly 50 community created applications including file transfer, speed dating, and multiplayer games.
Besides basic one-on-one chat, Meebo also offers a service called "Rooms," which makes it easy for users to share media and Web sites. All you have to do to embed a YouTube video or a Flickr photo (or media from Metacafe, Google Video, Photobucket, or MySpace) is paste the URL into the chat window; then other users will be able to play media directly, without leaving the chat session.
Winner: Meebo (Meebo.com)
Category: Communication
Apple's stock instant-message program in Mac OS X is currently in its fourth release and has made steady improvements in competing with third-party chat programs to provide advanced functionality such as tabs, animated buddy icons, and utilities to assist the transfer of multiple files. At its heart, iChat is a dead simple way to connect with IM buddies on multiple networks including AIM, Google Talk, Jabber, and Bonjour. Missing, however, is support for other popular protocols such as Windows Live Messenger, IRC, and Yahoo Messenger.
Some of the standout features in the latest iteration of iChat include advanced video chat with animated backgrounds that let users step out of the frame and then be visually transposed as if they were actually in that location. There's also built-in support for screen sharing with other iChat users, as well as a conversation recording.
Winner: iChat (Apple.com/MacOSX/features/iChat)
Category: Communication
Gmail is Google's Web-based e-mail service. It was one of the first e-mail services to offer users 1GB of storage space for their e-mails at a time when others were offering just a few megabytes. One of the reasons Gmail has become so popular is its sorting system, which lets users simply leave e-mail in their in-box. Instead of organizing things in folders, Gmail has employed a filtering system, which essentially lets users automatically tag and sort through incoming e-mail.
In recent years, Gmail has continuously increased its available storage space in excess of 6GB, and has integrated other Google services such as instant messaging from Google Talk and AOL's AIM.
Winner: Gmail (Gmail.com)
Category: Communication
AOL Instant Messenger, known commonly as AIM, is one of the most popular and oldest instant-messaging services around. It lets users chat with one another, send files, and have multiple conversations tabbed together in one window.
Like similar instant-messaging protocols, users get their own identities, complete with usernames and short profile. Users can add all sorts of links and text, which other viewers can browse. AIM users can also add their buddies with just a username, instead of having to remember e-mail addresses or real names.
The latest version of AIM takes a page from microblogging service Twitter, letting people broadcast their status regardless of if they're away. It also has offline messaging, letting you send people messages when they're offline that will show up the next time they sign on.
Winner: AIM (Dashboard.Aim.com)
Category: Communication
