Alright, I finally got my laptop's charger replaced and will go ahead and write the Utopia review.
Introduction
My review is regarding the desktop version, but I was amazed to see that it's available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android. The website is versatile and easy to browse, with an intriguing interface. Downloading, installing, and creating a new account were simple enough, so I'm not going to post any screenshots or waste any more time analyzing this process.
After completing the registration and logging in to your account, you're welcomed with the following welcome page, which briefly demonstrates all the necessary information you need to get started, along with four different themes to choose from (light, dark, etc.) and your public key, which is also your uWallet address in order to receive payments.
Utopia's native currency is the Crypton (CRP) and the newly introduced (in 2021) a soft-pegged stablecoin to the USD, featuring anonymous and instant transactions.
The key features of the Utopia client will be briefly explained and are the following:
uMessenger: An instant encrypted messenger, supports text and voice messaging, file transfers, and the creation of group chats.
uMail: An efficient, simple, and spam-free email provider for secure communication.
uChannels: Allows the creation of encrypted private and public channels for all data and messages.
uWallet: An electronic wallet for anonymous and instant transactions between Utopia users in the Crypton (CRP) currency.
Mining: Receive rewards for supporting the network.
Idyll Browser: A built-in browser designed for anonymous and private browsing.
Public and Private Channels
One of the most delightful and useful features are the channels, you'll find pretty much every kind of channel you need, from off-topic, to local ones and most importantly, to request assistance. Personally, this kind of layout reminds me of Discord and pretty much resembles a gaming and out-going platform.
Private uMail provider
Another great feature, a private encrypted mailing provider, simple and efficient enough to get the job done. Nothing much to explain here, it performs like your regular Gmail or Outlook.
Games
This is a rather unusual but interesting addition to spike things up, games. They features an chess and poker game. I'd play chess but didn't have a companion to invite and decided to try Poker, even though I'm not a fond of card games. I created a new table and waited for a while, unfortunately, no one joined but this might be a personal issue because I have zero connections on the ecosystem.
Crypto Cards
And last, but not least feature I'd like to mention, are the crypto cards. Basically, you can create and customise your own crypto card, a small note here before I continue, I'd prefer if there was a larger variety of colors and customisations, minor and petty detail, but I believe that it'd be a nice touch. The card required a 3 CRP issue fee, and proceeded with the card creation, which required only a matter of a few seconds. Then, I sent the remaining 2 CRP on my crypto card.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Utopia ecosystem serves exactly its purpose and its name. It's an entire ecosystem, consisting of a huge variety of services, from chat messengers, to email providers, to anonymous payments, games, a browser and plenty of other additions, all of which are great. In my opinion, the platform shows great expectations and capabilities. One of the main complaintsfor myself is that the application seems to slow down older and budget computers quite a lot. My older laptop struggled a lot to keep up, but any other semi-decent laptop is likely to have performed just fine.. While there's always room for improvement, Utopia offers some top of the notch advantages, such as:
1. Anonymous transactions
2. No KYC required
3. Instant and affordable transactions
4. Beneficial network infrastructure to avoid congestion
5. Crypto cards for anonymous payments
6. Linux, Windows, Mac OS and Android version
It was an honor to have the opportunity to try the Utopia Ecosystem and I wish the developers good luck and to keep up the great work!