angryCoder on installation recommendations...

My friend Jonathan Goodyear (a.k.a. “angryCoder”) posted an article today about some annoyances he encountered while installing MSN Messenger. Working from home for the last 2 years, I have been using IM and video conferencing software more than ever. Having been a user of several different instant messaging clients over the last 7 years or so (starting with ICQ) I'm surprised how it seems that none of them have really “got it right” yet. It seems that each one brings with it both good and bad (or lacking) features. Even a couple of years ago when Trillian came out, it only took a couple of weeks until I went back to using multiple IM clients. I would use a single IM client if it could give me the following:

• Skype quality voice communication over a standard PC microphone/speaker/headset.
• Webcam abilities as good or better than Yahoo! IM, or NetMeeting.
• The ability to “direct connect“ to the other person to send images or files (most do this already)
• Group chat/meeting capabilities like that of WebEx (whiteboard sharing, desktop sharing)
• Integration with Active Directory so I could search for someone and then email, IM or voice message them.
• Something that would allow me record demonstrations or slides shown during a meeting into mpeg, avi, wmv or .mov format.

So far, nothing that I know of delivers all of these. I've seen some advertisements for LiveMeeting recently but, haven't taken a closer at it yet. What does everyone use for remote communication that requires more than the phone?