Re: How is Ripple not considered the best alternative cryptocurrency?
Honestly, I've been using Ripple for a little bit. While it's got a lot going for it, best I can say about the client is that it is REALLY BETA. It has loads of problems and it's one of the biggest problems I see with it. Being centralized, even though it's "open source", I don't see as many enthusiasts contributing to the code. There really should be a QT-esque client for it. Very Payward. 
Maybe we should soften the suggestion that the client is "REALLY BETA".
The client does almost-amazing things with currency conversion* and includes a usable trading platform capable of handling a wide variety of crypto AND fiat currencies.
There are many minor usability glitches and it is not as polished as the best btc clients & exchanges. But Opencoin keeps improving it at a much more regular rate than a lot of software.
Any in-browser client is a major security question, mainly useful to attract new users. For large balances a local client is needed and could be written by anyone given the desire.
*(Ripple currency conversion is currency IOU conversion, with counterparty risk. It's like trusting a centralized bitcoin exchange to hold your balances until you withdraw them. I hope the forthcoming decentralized exchanges will be a major challenge to Ripple but right now it's a useful system.)