PlayXpert Open Beta - Initial Impressions

I found out that PlayXpert was available again today and so I was keen to install and test this out on my XP rig - I ended up a little disappointed. This could have been avoided had I read the PlayXpert FAQ properly, but alas I did not.

The Open Beta has Open GL support turned off, a situation that is, for now, 'temporary' - so you won't be able to see PlayXpert once you launch ET.

The software itself looks quite nice and when you run it you get a snazy looking (customizable) widget bar.

I added four of the seven available chat "gateways" without any problems whatsoever - xfire, msn, yahoo and gtalk.

The xfire functionality does not yet match the functionality that you get with xfire itself so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

The chat window is what you would expect with a small selection of smileys.

Once you get into the settings you can configure hot keys to control PlayXpert - Crtl + Shift + B is the default to launch the web browser for example. Other hot keys with bring up the widget bar, or "dock" and you can specify if you want to use Winamp or iTunes to play your mp3s.

There is already some VOIP functionality is built in but I looked in vain for the TeamSpeak widget to be able to test that out.

Unfortunatley all of this is a bit mute for me because without the Open GL support that is needed for ET, I can't (yet) use this with my favourite game.

Still, being a gamer you would have thought that I would have learned some patience by now ... hopefully I will be revisting PlayXpert soon once Open GL is supported.

Either way, once PlayXpert is ready for prime time it looks like it will replace my current xfire installation quite nicely!.

Update: the Teamspeak widget should be available for download again soon.