awTags vs. free tagging

Let me be (I think) the first to post a forum topic to compare the two tagging features, one a module and one to be part of the core: awTags (AT) and Free Tagging (FT) respectively. I haven't used Free Tagging (read the post here: http://drupal.org/node/20936 and looked over the screenshots) but I have been using awTags (more info here: http://drupal.org/node/20095 and the current version). I have to say that they both have some interesting features.

A comparison:

• awTags seems to have some nice add/merge/delete features as you'd find in the del.icio.us user settings.
• Free Tagging is built into the taxonomy and so is edited in the admin > categories area.

-- It would stand to reason that any user who wanted to edit tags would need administer taxonomy permission with FT; AT allows a differentiation in permissions, which many people seem to prefer. Also the ability to 'search and replace' tags in AT is familiar and extremely useful. It is a separate type of taxonomy though, with no relation to the already build in system.

• awTags allows admins to select whether the tags appear in the links output or if they have their own separate area.
• Free Tagging appear in the links area.

-- I think here the AT feature is much more desireable, as it is optional and can reduce some of the congestion in the links area. This also adds more visual importance to it, as there is a distinct separation of the tags from other items (eg - printer friendly page, read more).

• awTags has it's own tag page with most active tags, recently active tags, most visited tags, and random tags as well as a individual block displays.
• Free Tagging is built into the core, and would presumably use other taxonomy modules to display a distinct page.

-- Here I think FT has the right idea in that it's utilizing the modules already in existence. A new module to display weight could be made that groks the AT visual weight display. Interestingly, the AT display can be configured to be controlled by CSS so that other visual relationships could be designed by the theme designer. One drawback to the AT interface is that the admin page to control all of this information, while full of customizable features, is that it is a bit of an overload of information. There are a lot of controls in the settings area.

• awTags allows a sidebar block for "my tags" vs. simply the sites tags where the former can be configured to replace the latter when they could both be displayed.
• Free Tagging are built into the core and presumably would rely on other taxonomy modules.

-- I think this is another important AT feature, in that it allows 'personalized' tags to appear for individual users. This could make community tagging much more rich and interactive, in my opinion.

• awTags has a relative tag block that can also replace the tags block when it is relevant.
• Free Tagging are built into core and would rely on other taxonomy modules.

-- This is another feature that provides a rich user experience, in that it allows an almost "+ tag" relationship such as del.icio.us offers. Again it could be part of a separate module.

I think it is also important to note that a module that incorporated these last few things and FT would also allow these relationships to develop with the "regular" categories as well and could increase overall usability to a wide range of users. To me awTags has the features I think that people would look for in a 'tagging' module - where FT has things right in it's relationship to the other taxonomies and (i'm presuming here) it's ability to integrate with taxonomy modules to utilize a greater feature set.

So... Is there any way we can combine these efforts into one awesome system? It would be a shame if there were overlapping development going on for something that could clearly benefit from the others ideas.

That's it. Please post feedback and correct me if i'm wrong in places. also thanks to factoryjoe for originally posing the question.