Camfrog

If you’re interested in not just instant messaging, but participating in group video chats, then you’ll want to give Camfrog a try. It connects you to video-chat rooms around the world, where you can talk via your video camera, microphone and keyboard. There are thousands of video chat rooms available, and at this writing, nearly 140,000 people have registered to use the program, so there are plenty of people available for chatting.

If you don’t have a Webcam, you can still use the program, because it lets you view video chat rooms. And you’ll also be able to talk in the chat rooms via microphone and keyboard, even without a webcam. The chat rooms themselves are quite varied, with many specialized for specific interests. Be aware, though, that there are quite a few X-rated video chat rooms as well, so anyone with children should be careful about downloading this software.

When you install Camfrog, it offers to install the Yahoo Toolbar for Internet Explorer and WeFi software for locating wireless hot spots. If you don’t want them installed, remember to uncheck the boxes next to them.

–Preston Gralla