Monero could be a competitor 6-12 months from now. They have a LOT of work to do before it's even usable by the average person. Also, there are many disadvantages to Monero, and at this point it isn't certain that they will be fixed.
I like many coins like Darkcoin, Monero, NXT, etc..just dont tell lies.
Monero only needs a GUI wallet and it's perfect. Truthfully, it has the best anonymity available through Ring Signatures, along with a team of 7 devs...
Other than the GUI wallet, there are no other things needed. Scaling/Bloating has been fixed through upgrading the pool software..since it was the pools sending out dust transactions that bloated the blockchain..
I like DRK, XMR, and NXT. I also like to root for underdogs of underdogs, so I have a small bet on Boolberry (BBR). They have aliases for the long cryptonote addresses, as well as a GUI. They're still young, with a small coin count. Also, they're not listed on coinmarketcap yet so they are flying under the radar. Check them out when you get a moment.