The Emerald Viewer for Second Life

A few months ago I switched to the Emerald viewer for Second Life.  Since the switch many of you have asked for reasons why I continue to use it.  Figured it was about time to put it on paper, so to speak.  A few things I like about Emerald:

The Worn Tab
There is a handy little tab in your inventory for what you're wearing.  This saves you from having to type worn into your regular inventory to find out what you're wearing.  I LOVE this feature, although I can see where it might not be used by those that don't care to change their pixel clothes every day. 

Built in Radar
No attachments needed here.  Emerald has it's own radar button.  Just click on it and it will list all of the avatars in the area and even give you a few options.  For example, if you double click on an avatar, it will zoom your camera to them.  I use this a lot for checking on new avatars while on docent duty-especially if there are a lot of avatars in the vicinity and they're all wearing those dreaded pink polka dots!  

Tracking Avatars
The other nice thing in the radar button is an option to track an avatar.  I love using this while shopping (as well as the zoom to option above).  If my girlfriend is a few rows over, I have no trouble finding her.  It puts an arrow on her so I can follow it until I find her location.  I also use this during docent duty for those times when someone says "I'm here" but I dont' see them anywhere.

Fancy Green Beams
One of the first ways people notice you're using Emerald is when they notice the green beams when you click on objects.  I personally like them, but others think they're annoying.  I really started liking them when I discovered you can change the beam to different colors or even designs.  Once I had smiley face beams when i clicked on things.  Just one more option for customization and fun! 


Show Look At
There is a feature in Emerald that lets you see who is looking at you or where people are looking.  There could be many uses for such a thing, but one great use I've discovered is when working with new avatars.  I find myself saying all the time "see this, click on it".  Well, now I can tell if they're really looking at the right thing.  It gives cross hairs with the avatar name on them.  I can also see this being great for a class.  If you have one person whose cross hair never moves (especially if you're showing slides, etc.) chances are they're off doing something else!


Teleport History
In the Emerald menu, you'll find an option for teleport history.  This tracks everywhere you've been during this session.  I use this quite often while shopping.  I forget where I've been half the time or will forget to make a landmark, so this is a good way of finding those places again.

Easy TP
I LOVE the teleport button in the IM window.  Now, instead of opening a profile to teleport a friend, you just click the teleport button in the IM window.  One can also be found on the friends list page. 

One of the only problems I have with Emerald is a lot of craziness that I don't understand with encrypted chatting.  I have experienced problems with not receiving IM's, my IM's not being sent and IM"s that do get sent being all jumbled so no one can read them (which is the intent, but something is obviously not right).   I, however, find the other benefits outweigh the issues with IM, so I just inform my friends that if I don't answer them, there is probably an issue and not to take it personally.  I do know a few avatars, however, that stopped using Emerald just because of the chat feature.  I also know a few avatars that have problems with Second Life crashing a log when using Emerald.  I think it probably has a lot to do with your machine.