It was on my to-do list for a while, but I finally had an opportunity to try Sightspeed on for size last night. I had a good excuse--I'm researching VoIP software for a writing assignment that you'll hopefully read very soon in a certain excellent IDG publication. Right off the bat, I wasn't sure if I liked Sightspeed--it looks and feels different from just about any other video chat application I've used. The interface is unlike your typical text I.M. application. That is to say, it doesn't look and feel like Skype or iChat.

Instead SightSpeed is sort of a "video desktop"--it has a wide rectangular window instead of the typical buddy list interface you may be accustomed to if you use Skype. At first, I couldn't understand why the Sightspeed designers chose this tack, but now it makes sense. Sightspeed is probably the friendliest video chat program around. Sound and video quality are on par with iChat (don't tell Steve Jobs!).  Some other unique features include video mail and pan-tilt-zoom controls, so you can actually control the camera of your chat partner.

I was able to catch Andy Abramson, the distinguished VoIP blogger and all-around P.R. genius, for quick Sightspeed video call. I was using a Mac Mini and he was using his Macbook Pro. (Sightspeed is a universal binary, making it right at home on both my PowerPC machine and Andy's Intel Mac.)   I can only hope Andy didn't overhear my wife in the background yelling at her furiously-unfolding World of Warcraft action.

Anyway, Sightspeed runs on Windows and Mac, so iChat users who've been frustrated by the lack of Windows compatibility for video calls will definitely want to check it out.