Recently, I went on a quest to find the most suitable multi-platform instant messaging client. I reviewed four programs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, but neglected two big players in the game. Here are their reviews:
First four reviewed here: http://dtacconelli.com/blog/?p=777
The Candidates:
Trillian — I used Trillian long before the days of Pidgin and Gaim for uses with AIM, ICQ and IRC — although the IRC client was lacking in those days. This have definitely changed since then! Upon, first impressions, I noticed the exact same default sound suite and it gave me a sense of nostalgia in a client I once loved. Trillian has added support for major players in the IM/web 2.0 messenger realm by instituting Facebook chat, MySpace IM, and Twitter updates. Trillian has also added notifiers that display in any corner of your screen when someone updates Twitter or Facebook or when you receive new e-mails. The interface is easily and conveniently customizable through the view menu and in the preferences. There are custom themes and skins users can download (and always have been able to in the older versions, too), which is an added perk. Overall, this is a very stellar example of a multi-platform IM client, but it is just simply not for me. I left it for particular reasons years ago, and am going to have to leave it yet again. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it is just not the client for me.
Miranda IM — *WARNING* NOT for the technologically impaired. Miranda IM is for the bare-bones enthusiasts out there, and the learning curve is steeper than any ordinary multi-platform client. At first, I thought Miranda IM was the client for me: it’s simple, non-flashy, and a no B.S. instant messaging client that is stripped down to the bare essentials. Much time was spent figuring out what plugins were needed for certain things, things were complex — but I was in control, and I determined exactly what I wanted in my program. All was good, until when today I opened up Miranda to find Facebook chat in a non-operational mode, I decided it wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to spend the time digging through forum posts and plugin pages — I just wanted the damn thing to work. The only problem with third party plugins are program update conflicts (program updates sometimes require plugin updates as well). So, I decided to let Miranda IM go. If you are into customizing your IM program from the inside out, then this is the program for you. I just grew tired of constantly fixing and tweaking Miranda IM – I just wanted it to work with minimal effort.
My Picks:
Digsby and Pidgin are my favorites out of all the clients reviewed. They both work how I expect a multi-platform instant messenger to work — and with minimal effort. Digsby has a slight edge over Pidgin because I can update my Facebook and Twitter statuses directly from the program. I can also chat on Facebook natively (it comes installed) in Digsby, where in Pidgin I had to download a plugin to get this working properly. Also, these two are my favorites because the default interface is simple, clean, and intuitive to use (plus I think they have the best logos out of all the other clients — although they could both have hideous logos and still be my favorite clients).
