I tried out Second Life the week. Second Life is a virtual 3D networked world featuring customisable avatars, objects, locations and even its own convertible currency ("Linden Dollars"). A number of real world organisations, including the ABC and Telstra, have established presences in Second Life and my employer has shown some interest as well and prompted by a colleague I thought it worth my while to investigate.
Unfortunately, the software requires a decent 3D chipset, meaning that only my home desktop with the Nvidia FX5200 was up to the task. Everything else I use has old or integrated graphics.
I would have loved the Second Life concept about 13 years ago. Indeed, it seems a lot like an advanced 3D version of a MUSH. I wanted IRC (Internet Relay Chat) to be like Second Life with the capability of building your own environment and scriptable objects. It's something which I have imagined for a long time. However, after meeting my one true love on IRC 13 years ago I now have a First Life that beats the electronic version.
I still want to further explore the potential of Second Life, because I do see virtual environments playing an increasingly important role in the future.