Orgoo

 I’m very excited about this IO release because it highlights a key feature strength to usability and popularity - integration – and does it all with nice aesthetics and awesome features (and yes, some flaws).  

 

“Get all your IM accounts organized in one buddy list, Get all your email accounts in one inbox, or organized in separate folders, Create your own video chat rooms and invite your contacts to talk (no registration required!), Instantly reply to emails with IM, Combine saved IMs with important emails and share them with anyone, Find anything with Orgoo Search: emails, IMs, video chats, contacts, buddylists and more…”

Likes:

• Integration, integration, integration.
• POP and IMAP support 
• 3GB of Storage
• View instant maps when you hover over any address
• See more list of features above, from their welcome email.
• Immediate support – you can IM a buddy called ’support’ for help, or call a feedback hotline, or reach them by email.

Flaws:

• Ads in the email you send! Its just a little bothersome tag that reads: “Sent from Orgoo. Get your free account. All your IM & email accounts, video chat, SMS and more in one location online.”  Still, it’s unnacceptable. Ad-free messages should be the standard and not the exception.
• The IM buddy list is not customizable yet. I want to be able to create groups, move my buddies around, have nicknames for my friends, link the same buddies from multiple IM clients under one nickname, (i love pidgin).
• Right now, they only support Hotmail/Windows Live plus and premium accounts – though they do mention that standard support is coming soon.
• Setting up all your accounts the first time is time consuming (load time on gmail (through IMAP) took awhile). The iframe design when you add accounts or contacts is a bit akward to scroll around in. The first time you add an IM account it doesn’t sign you on immediatly or ask if you want to – you have to sign in on the side panel.’
• No themes yet, give me my customization!

Final thoughts: Orgoo has a good grasp of what people are looking for, and executed it well – though there’s still some room for improvement. Add more integration! I want my social networks linked, with RSS readers and calendars and photo applications, and widgets! I want it all, and free, and with no adds – is that too much to ask?

It seems to me Orgoo’s biggest competitor would still be Google, but I wonder how other clients stack up (Meebo perhaps)?

*Orgoo was just chosen to be one of thirty-two presenters at the Under the Radar 2008 conference at the Microsoft California campus this March*

Links: Orgoo

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