Originally Posted by TheDoc

Google chat is FAR better than skype or icq, you can use it in email directly or a client and combined clients support it. It forward convo's to your phone or email when you shut your email/client, it does voice, video, screens, etc... and it's super fast.

I turn skype on when I need it, like a client needs it, family chat, then it goes right back off.

It's one serious bloated bit of software, far too much crap going on with it, can't strip out the garbage you don't need, can't run it combined with other services (one app), and it has downtime as well.