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I always liked BlitzIn, but like everything else you can only get so much for free. Actually, there is a free Icarus too, and registration comes with a lifetime of free upgrades! Unlike BlitzIn, which of course is a decent interface, Icarus 1.6 is a true 32-bit application: in both looks and performance. It uses the tab system rather than individually inscribed windows. Therefore you never have overlapping windows that need to be minimized or moved around: notice the resizable area above the communications console; there are a number of tabs at the top, which when clicked recycle that area to display the Move List, the Game Sought graph, Games in Progress (which by the way is a great new feature for those of you who like to watch GMs play), etc. At the hit of a key you can have your chessboard take over the whole screen, and it takes another click to restore the original window sizes. Icarus also features optional BlitzIn graphics & sounds, for those of you hard-to-adjust users!
Besides supporting all of BlitzIn's features, Icarus 1.6 has a few new ones. Its most recent addition is the Chess Phone utility which allows you to talk to one or several opponents/observers, in full duplex audio! You don't need an extra line and you don't pay long distance charges; it uses your current Internet connection, without interrupting online activities. It is not clear when this feature will match the quality and speed of regular phone conversations, but for the time being it is satisfactory in stable lag environment (it has a delay of about 1 sec). It is easy to use too, as is the entire Icarus. Just click on the Chess Phone tab above the communications window and it will recycle the Move List (or whatever you're using at the time) into a window which consists of 3 buttons and an area for typing in the person's handle. Other notable new features include the forementioned Games In Progress display (filterable); easy to use filters allow you to select exactly which seek ads you want to see in the graph; the ability to save lectures (and replay them MrSpock-like); the Titan playing engine, and more. The auto-upgrade feature makes the long term usage of Icarus 1.6 pleasurable (no manual download or installation). What I personally like the most about Icarus is the unlimited power in graphics customization. For example, I designed the above boards (and like 20 more, because I am a graphics freak!). Icarus was written by Richard Jernigan, a Microsoft & IBM professional and owner of www.randomly.com which is where you will find your free copy of Icarus 1.6. And for those of you interested in improving the interface or learning from the best, most of the program's source code is publicly available on the same site. |
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