Google Wave Desktop Client Match-Up: Waver vs WaveBoard for Mac

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Hopefully by now, most of you have already received your Google Wave invite. And chances are you are either enjoying Google Wave or still trying to figure out how it works. If you’re enjoying Google Wave right now, you might want to check out two available desktop client for Google Wave – Waver and Waveboard. These desktop clients allow  you to use Google Wave without needing to open a new browser window. And for a real-time communication tool, this is very important.

I’ve downloaded both clients on my MacBook Pro and come up with the following comparisons. Take note, Waveboard is currently for Mac OS only, while Waver runs on Linux, Windows and Mac.

Waver Google Wave Desktop Client

Waver is an Adobe AIR application that gets your Google Wave account and lets you create waves, updates existing waves  as well as reply to existing ones. It’s a single column interface that renders Google Wave using WebKit. Being a single column that it is, it also allows you to navigate through the various components of your Google Wave account including your Wave Inbox, Contacts, and existing Waves. It doesn’t open another windows though.

Good thing about Waver since it is using Adobe’s Javascript implementation is the fact that it renders Waves quickly. For a real-time communication that supposedly updates as fast as it could, this is very important. And Waver succeeds on this department.

Waver also works with bots and gadgets. Meaning you can use bots to automate tasks that you would normally do on Google Wave.

Remember, to run Waver you need to install Adobe AIR. Doing so will take some valuable space of your machine, so that’s just the low-down of using it.

Waveboard Google Wave Desktop Client for Mac

While Waver is as simple desktop solution for Google Wave, Waveboard takes it a little farther by introducing more features and functionality that will surely make your Google Wave experience a more pleasant one.

Waveboard presents you with four windows – Navigation, Contacts, Inbox and the Wave windows. These are the main components of Google Wave actually. It works like your usual email client, where you can have access to each of the menus quickly and easily.

Three features of Waveboard that makes it superior with Waver are – file drag and drop, keyboard shortcuts and notifications.

To enable “drag and drop” you need to run Google Gears first. Once this is setup you can upload files from your desktop into a Wave that you are currently editing. Participants of that Wave can immediately see  the files you’ve dragged into the wave.

As with other Mac applications, there are several keyboard shortcuts that you  can use on Waveboard.  Most of these Waveboard keyboard shortcuts are similar to the Mac Command + key functions.

Finally, Waveboard sends notifications when a new Wave you created or in which you are a participant has changed since the last time you logged in to your Wave account. If you’ve participated in many Waves or created several of them, you can easily monitor which have changed. But to make the notifications disappear you need to read the Waves or use the SPACE key if you don’t want to read the Waves.

Which is Better Waver or Waveboard

Much as I would like to say that Wabeboard is better, I could not because both desktop client for Google Wave serve their individual purposes and will cater to the preferences of different people. If you want a lightweight client you’d prefer Waver. But if Waver is too simple for you, you’d use Waveboard instead.