Briefly About the Show

I'm not going to make an incredibly detailed feature-by-feature comparison, but I am going to make some broad statements about these two internet telephone apps.

Check out Skype and Check out Gizmo

If you're not familiar with these applications, they both allow you to have voice conversations via the internet and also make/receive calls to land-line phones.

When each app first came out they were very similar. They both ran on Linux, Mac, & Windows which made them accessible to everyone. Performance and voice quality was relatively the same (at least I couldn't tell any difference).

The problems I'm going to mention have only started recently and only exist with Skype. Here's where the two apps part ways... Anytime Gizmo is updated, the updates come in all flavors (Windows, Linux, Mac), but Skype has only updated their Windows client recently. Their linux version hasn't been touched since October 2005 and their Mac client since January 2006. Their features are incredibly lacking when compared to the latest Windows release.

Sure, you can say "Well 90% of the users run Windows, so it makes sense." Yes, that's true, but before Skype was purchased by eBay, they were quoted as promoting the software for its cross-platform goodness. In fact when I wrote to customer support and asked if any new features would be coming for non-Windows users, they replied that they care equally about Mac and Linux and will be coming out with new versions soon. Obviously this is not the case. Actions speak louder than words.

I admit there are practical reasons for their focus on the Windows client, but it's quite possible that Gizmo could gain some significant ground by simply offering the same features for all platforms. When you look at their features, the apps are pretty much still on par. The main difference is the OS support, so why use Skype when everything else is equal?

This is especially true since Gizmo released a native Intel Mac version, while Skype still has not caught up. I'll keep watching the progress, but these are things to keep in mind. Did I mention Gizmo is open source? Well, it is.

UPDATE: What amazing timing. Skype has just released an updated Mac version that is Universal binary (the story). Looks like I have a lot of pull in the tech industry.