Comments on: 6 multiclient IM apps to chat about

Using multiple chat services is overwhelming, while limiting yourself to one service just doesn't cut it any longer. These multiclient IM apps broaden and simplify.

[spierzchala]

Just a note: Adium is based on top of libpurple, which is the IM engine developed by the team that developed Pidgin. In effect, Adium is Pidgin for Mac OS X.

smp

[blaszta]

I agree with spierzchala.
This is the first time I read an article with "Similar to Adium, Pidgin is ...". It should be the other way around. Please do research first.

[j_ten_man]

One thing that I love about Digsby is that it has e-mail updates as well so it lets me know when I have new messages in my Inbox.

[bbossert]

I definitely have to vote for Digsby, it supports all the major services, and the alerts are great.

[CantThinkOfaUserName]

Digsby what about Digsby

[SomeFriend]

In my opinion ... even after many years of multi messengers not a single "mm" could replace WLM or Yahoo Messenger.

Examples:

*Disgy*
Digsby is the ugliest client in the world. Even my (non existing) sister could create a better looking UI. The UI makes one BLIND. You hear me Digsby developers? Hire a DESIGNER and don?t let your mum do all the painting. And then the memory... it consumes so much RAM... :-| WLM, Yahoo Messenger and AIM take LESS RAM together. ABSURD!

*Trillian*
Trillian has a nice GUI... no doubt. But that?s it. No voice and video chat (MSN/WLM) ... many people bought the PRO version of Trillian because the developers promised to integrate this... well that was MANY years ago... still no working video chat.

*Miranda*
Is still for freaks who love... well whatever they love... Miranda takes lots of time to configure and to look a BIT good...

I really wonder why the Windows Live Messenger Team doesn?t integrate Y!, AIM and Jabber Support. OK Jabber is not really needed... but at least the big networks. I remember there were rumors that MS was working on such a thing... but thats long time ago...

Microsoft you hear me? PLEASE.. PLEASE PLEASE :-)

[marka999]

Windows Live Messenger has supported Yahoo contacts for years

[Hunnter2k3]

Miranda doesn't take that much time to configure, i had it done in minutes, more-or-less the same time i take to setup MSN (WLM), Yahoo! Messnger, etc.

Miranda is a fantastic little program, very lightweight.
Who cares about looks? I just want something that runs, and has a minimal interface hidden behind menus.
Plus, Miranda was fantastic for integrating into Litestep. But Litestep has stagnated for a while now. Shame.

I hate unnecessary space-wasting in GUIs, which is why i despise Vista so much. (along with Explorer and IE7+)
And it seems Win7 is going down the same path of TOOLBARS TOOLBARS TOOLBARS, toolbars as far as the eye can see... whoever thought that was a good idea should be fired into the sun.

[paulej]

Jabber not needed? I would argue that it is. If you're the kind of person who is content having a hotmail.com address, then perhaps MSN is for you. But, if you like having your own domain, then it is logical that you also have your own IM server. And, in the world of open standards Jabber (or, more precisely, XMPP) is the IM protocol that equates to SMTP for email. If every business operated its own XMPP server, then people would be able to use IM with other businesses, without having to send all IM messages through Microsoft's network, etc. Most XMPP servers employ TLS, too, which means IM exchanges between businesses would be secure. There are several free open source servers out there, too. I use Jabber/XMPP and it sure would be nice if most of my other contacts (most of whom are business contacts) would do the same. It would definitely make contact management a heck of a lot easier.

[Freedomstarfox]

Digsby can be customized through skins. Skins are at http://www.digsbies.org

It doesn't take up that much RAM as long as you regularly hide the buddy list.

[SomeFriend]

@paulej

Cannot do a direct reply to you :(

>> Jabber not needed? I would argue that it is. If you're the kind of person who is content having a hotmail.com
>> address, then perhaps MSN is for you. But, if you like having your own domain, then it is logical that you also
>> have your own IM server.

Yes and No. I?ve never been a "Hotmail" person, I have my domains since mid 90s. Jabber might be good for internal communication (within a company) but that?s it. What individual is using Jabber as its *main* IM network? I don?t know anyone... 90% or more are using the main networks... MSN.. YAHOO... etc. so Jabber is useless. I know of the transports. But it doesn?t help when it?s not legal to use the MSN/WL network using XMPP/Jabber (see Microsofts TOS for example!). AFAIK the only legal transport/network to use is AIM (correct me if I?m wrong)... and besides... we all know how often the transports needs to get updated... so the administator is configuring and installing all the time? lol Doesn?t make sense... INTERNAL USE OK... external... no way.


@marka999
Yes I know. But you can only do text chat... but yes at least a start...


@Hunnter2k3
If you only want the basic version of Miranda, yes. Some minutes are OK. If you want to make it look like a real software, then it takes more time. A "normal" user doesn?t want to configure, install 20 plugins etc. just to make the software look and work. Any where is web cam support? :(

@Freedomstarfox
I didn?t know about the skins. Hiding the buddy list doesn?t make sense in my opinion. But good to know, anyway. Thanks.

[andym990]

Correction: Trillian Astra's free version includes Google Talk, Twitter, Facebook Chat, Skype, Bonjour and all of that other jazz. You do not need to buy Pro to get those networks or use any of the included skins (or third-party skins)

[bigminisachin1231]

You're right. I've also been using the free beta of Astra which has been out for a while now. it has support for myspace as well, and although you do need a Pro account to change themes, the free version of Astra is much more fullbodied than the old Trillian.

[thebergie]

I'm really concerned way more about function than form. I don't care if the GUI is ugly. I don't need pretty icons that fade in and out. I just need something that can manage my different contacts from different networks and has decent LOGGING. Anything above that is just wasting my CPU.

I've been using Pidgin for about 2 years and been very happy with it.

Sometimes I use meebo, but it occasionally drops messages for me which I just don't care for. I did just download this new one though "Palringo" its for my blackberry mostly, but they have a windows client as well. I haven't played with it too much.

I had trillian for a while, but i remember it was lacking features. I also agree about the comments regarding Miranda. Tried it once, cried, and never went back.

[lennie22]

you should try the new trillian astra

[MadLyb]

Used Trillian for several very satisfied years. Connected to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and Sametime on a daily basis with no issues. Have even used the video a few times.

My biggest complaint is the application is really long in the tooth and Astra is waaaaaaay overdue and the last few security updates have introduced some stability issues.

[lennie22]

Yeah Astra is way overdue but it is good.....I don't any stability issues running astra on Win7.

[myles taylor]

Adium is the best out there, hand's down. If they ever figure out how to do voice and video chat, it would trump everything.

The cost of Trillian is what kills it. Even if it's possible to get most of the functionality in a free version. the very fact that they have a "pro" version is a killer. When you have something like Adium and other Open Source projects out there, it's no contest.

Like Don said (way to go Don...you actually get one right every now and again) you can go on and on about Adium. If any of the others had even half the features it'd be amazing.

[ed_salgado]

Meebo rocks! I can log in on any computer with internet access without installing a thing and get to all my IM buddies with no issue whatsoever. I don't need to install anything, and it doesn't hog memory or CPU cycles.

-ed
www.OneDomain.com

[AndrewRich]

Why doesn't iChat include Yahoo support after all these years? Piping it through public Jabber gateways works but it's hardly Apple-trademark efficient or pretty.

[protagonistic]

You missed the best feature of Adium. The "Young Frankenstein" sound theme. Listening to Gene Wilder and Marty Feldmen do the "Whose brain did I put in" routine when it starts up is priceless. :-)

[Chapmaniac]

Do any of these multi-client apps allow a webcam?

[Freedomstarfox]

I use Digsby all the time. Tried Trillian Astra and while it does LOOK nice, the features in the free version aren't as great as Digsby especially the email and social networking.

[louciano9]

I user meebo almost everyday and have nothing but rave reviews for it. I used digsby(all be it a while ago) and liked it for the most part, but had issues with it eating up my resources. Plus I rather not have to install anything.

[paul613]

No one has mentioned IMO (https://imo.im/features.html). While it doesn't yet support FaceBook chat, it does suport the major services (including Google Talk), MySpace, and Skype. Oh, yes: If the native service offers voice and video, so does Web -based IMO. In addition to the Web version, there's a Windows client (https://imo.im/download.html); it, too, supports voice and video on AIM (iChat?), Google Talk, MSN, and Yahoo, but at this point it does not support MySpace and Skype at all. Did I mention that it's free?

[kunal_bhatt]

I think Nimbuzz is a pretty good option because:
1) Covers all major web IMs, SIP, Facebook, ICQ including Skype and Twitter!
2) It has a desktop app - which is not that great
3) Mobile app is very thrifty
5) Easy file upload and share over IM on Mobile
6) Location awareness and sharing from Mobile
7) Use SIP to make internet call or if you are on gtalk/yahoo/msn, just call using your connection - WiFi, GPRS, etc. from mobile
8) Has an iPhone version too!

[mholmes7]

"Pidgin is ideally suited for Windows machines, so that may be a problem for some."

Please, do your homework before you write an article. Pidgin started out as GAIM, an AIM clone developed originally for Linux. Pidgin is generally the default messenger in a Linux distro, and runs functions the same there as it does on Windows. I won't mention Adium, as another reader has already covered that.

I'm not the type to go about bashing articles for inaccuracies, but this is blatant lack of what I hope would be common knowledge for a "technical columnist". Even if you've never touched Linux, researching an article before you submit it is generally a solid practice; at least that's what I was taught in middle school.

[ShepsCrook]

Just a few notes about Trillian:

For this being posted on June 15th, I'm shocked the review wasn't about Trillian Astra which is readily available for everyone now. With it providing extra clients like Google Talk, Bonjour, Facebook IM, Myspace, Skype and Twitter. It's become a rather robust IM client with an even better style now. If you want to use Video chat and or Audio / Webcam with your IMs, you'll just have to upgrade to Pro.

[poetworm]

I'll stick to Pidgin, it won't win a beauty contest, but it works. I might give Digsby a try. Tried Trillian, and it's all looks and no substance. Even worse is Trillian Astra. It looks great, but it's too convoluted with features. Sometimes simple works better.