i've been using fire for two months now and i am incredibly pleased. i'm using it to replace YM and iChat and it does all that they do and so much more. it is a better YM client that Yahoo's own program, which is crippled on the mac.

the basic functionality (chat) is solid. i've had only two strange issues: one time some formatted text was not received when sent, and one time it kept saying my friend was typing when she was not.

the advanced features are outrageously cool. spell check while i type is crucial. speaking names when someone logs in is very useful to me, it lets me know if i need to interrupt my other work for an important chat person. i haven't needed the group chat yet. file transfer did not seem to work across Yahoo but Yahoo Messenger on the mac doesn't work either so maybe it's a service issue and not Fire.

i have played with Adium but lack of spellcheck and speech would keep me away. Adium is visually more appealing but i am more interested in function.

i would like to see Fire get iTunes support, Skype support, and voice and video support, but maybe i am asking for too much!