[ale] Other softphones

[Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com (Dow Hurst)]

What do people think of http://www.freshtel.net or 
http://www.theswitchboard.ca?  Heard them mentioned on a list and 
wondered just how many softphone projects/companies are out there?  I am 
behind the times with VoIP so really don't know too much about it.  
Skype seems pretty popular but is moving away from open standards 
according to an article I read at O'Reilly: 

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/6491

So, anyone with experience other than Vonage?
Dow