Adium gets its Twitter on in version 1.4

Mac users long ago discovered the incredible power of Adium, the open-source, multiprotocol instant-messaging application for the Mac. The next time someone suggests that open source can't innovate, is not user-friendly, etc., point them to Adium. It's simply incredible.

What Adium isn't, however, is a good Twitter client. That's about to change, starting with Adium's next version (1.4), when sophisticated Twitter functionality will be integrated into Adium.

Sure, it has been possible to integrate Adium with Twitter with things like TwitterAdium, but those have involved a little more heavy lifting than most users want to give to their desktop applications.

Now, as Adium has announced, this leading instant-messaging client is about to get serious Twitter integration, which is no mean feat, considering that Twitter shut down IM access in 2008 and has no announced plans to resurrect it.

The integration is accomplished using Matt Gemmell's MGTwitterEngine, a library used to communicate with the Twitter API. While the service won't initially be as full-featured as, say, TweetDeck, it sounds like a great first attempt at replicating the basic Twitter functionality in an IM client. Full details on how it will work are on the Adium blog.

Here's what the service is expected to look like. I can't wait. Much of my day is spent in both Twitter and Adium. Now I may simply spend time in Adium. You can follow me on Twitter at mjasay.

Adium gets Twitter integration in 1.4

(Credit: Adium)