Qnext

Think of Qnext as the Swiss Army knife of Internet communication tools. With this slick suite of applications (available free from the Qnext Web site), you can send and receive instant messages, set up group IM chats, initiate audio chats, start a video conference, and take part in online gaming. You can also send and receive large numbers of files and photos, and even log on to a distant machine and do full-screen remote control (much as you could with a remote-control program such as GoToMyPC). All told, the public beta we tested (the official first release is slated for fall) is impressive. And did we mention it's free?
Qnext works nicely as a universal instant messenger, but this versatile freebie has many other tricks up its sleeve. I've always liked the way this communications service client opens extra features in attached panes called "zones" instead of in pop-up windows
Adding to zones for photo sharing, file sharing, and games introduced in previous versions, the latest crowd-pleaser--the rabbit from the hat, if you will--is the audio-streaming feature, which Qnext calls a "jukebox zone."
Since you decide who has access to your jukebox zone, you can decide who has the right to listen and who doesn't. The Qnext folks tell me that their latest users aren't seeking a Trillian-like IM aggregator; rather, they want to find a replacement for peer-to-peer music sharing networks. Certainly, Qnext's model of opening zones only to trusted buddies isn't as scary as opening your PC to the entire Internet. Nor is it as creepy to rifle through your spouse's music library as it is to sift through the potentially malicious files set out by a stranger.

Qnext lets you choose between playing files at a low-bandwidth reduced quality level or a high-bandwidth maximum quality level. To my untrained ear, both settings were acceptable--though they were discernibly different.