iChat was once a leader in the instant messaging and VoIP space, but players like Gizmo and Skype arrived on the scene and just absolutely buried Apple's offering in quiet mediocrity. So it's good to know that Apple's still peppering iChat with new features as they release their OS updates... and this time, with Leopard, some of iChat's new features are actually worthwhile. And while several of these have been available on third-party chat clients for a while, we've never seen them in quite this combination:

• Background images. You can now appear to be sitting in front of one of your iPhoto photos, so a really cool landscape like the Great Wall of China could be the venue for your next video conference. What can we say; that's just neat.
• Tabbed chats. 'Nuff said.
  
• SMS forwarding. OK, we admit there could be a time when we might use this.
  
• Quick Look support. This is Leopard's extensive new document-previewing feature. Now you can show a Keynote slideshow or a QuickTime movie remotely through an iChat conference. In fact, you'll be able to share anything that adds Quick Look support.
  
• Recording. You can now save audio and video conferences. This is ideal for podcasting.
  

Really, we aren't using iChat much these days, but we might have to dust it off. Our AIM buddies will be happy to hear from us after so long when Leopard is released in ten days.