WIRES, Echolink, and IRLP are all basically different ways of accomplishing the same thing. They each have their proponents and they're not interoperable, either. D-Star is a little different because it is first a digital voice mode and secondarily a way to link systems via the internet. DStar is interfaceable on your PC, but you need the DV Dongle product to do it. There may be other ways, but I'm not sure what they are.
APRS is more about GPS tracking stations and it uses the internet for the maps, to communicate with the servers, etc. |