I recently went on a quest to find the most suitable multi-platform instant messaging client because my favorite program — Pidgin — did not have native Facebook chat support.
Here are my candidates:
Pidgin – Formerly known as “Gaim,” I have been using this client for about 3-4 years now. It leaves a very small resource footprint and is simply what I need: a client that just instant messages, nothing else. That’s the problem I currently have with Pidgin that I didn’t have a few years ago before the explosion of Facebook and Twitter — I cannot tweet or update my Facebook status from the program. I also cannot view social media site updates. For a while I used Seesmic Desktop and Tweetdeck for that, but that is a completely different article, so I won’t digress into that. Another problem I have with Pidgin is that it natively includes MySpaceIM on it’s list of supported platforms, but does not utilize Facebook chat. I understand that there is a third-party plugin for Facebook chat, and it works great, but is limited to chat, and only chat.
Digsby — Currently in its 78th build, Digsby takes Pidgin a step further: a multi-platform instant messaging client that offers popular social media update functionality. It also boasts an e-mail notifier — telling you when you have new messages. The most powerful feature that differentiates Digsby from other clients is its ability to notify the user of Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter updates. Users can also create status updates for these social media platforms — something that other clients are not able to do. One problem I have with Digsby is the inability to have new incoming instant messages minimized to my system tray. I use Windows 7, so I don’t know if this is an issue with XP or Vista, but when I am playing a computer game that requires the whole screen, I get minimized when someone first messages me. This gets annoying when in the heat of battle because the results are usually fatal (in-game). Other than this issue (that will most likely be fixed soon), Digsby is a very solid, very reliable multi-platform chat client and social media updating service.
**EDIT: I found out how to disable pop-ups for new messages, so that if you’re playing a full screen game, Digsby won’t minimize you. First, go to Preferences > Conversations and under Window Options > New conversation windows: click the drop down menu and choose “start minimized” or “start hidden (tray icon blinks)”. I don’t know how I overlooked this setting — guess I went through the options too quickly on setup.
Yoono — My initial impression with Yoono was: CONFUSION. It is not apparent where or how to send an instant message. Also, Yoono comes with a built in browser. I consider this as bloatware, and I don’t think any instant messenger should include a browser — I already have 3 different web browsers on my computer, I don’t need another one; I want to chat/update my Facebook status. One good thing I liked about Yoono that other clients do not do is the way it organized my contact lists. It has separate tabs, placing each platform in its own tab. Much easier than wading through a long list of clutter of multiple chat platform contacts. Alas, this feature wasn’t enough to warrant me keeping the program. Another positive feature of Yoono is its ability to create Twitter and Facebook updates. I believe Yoono is a relatively new program, since its still in beta and I don’t know much about it — there has yet to be a brave soul to create a Wikipedia page for it. I will definitely check back on it in the future, the program has serious potential.
VoxOx – Another relatively new contender in the multi-platform chat arena, VoxOx runs the gauntlet of instant messaging and social media platforms, but also integrates cell phone updates and SMS services. This is a useful feature, but I was reluctant to give out my cell number to a new service such as theirs. If you don’t put in your number the program will constantly bug you to activate through your service provider — and like I said above, I want my chat program to CHAT, I don’t need it to text me on my cell (although that is a really cool feature for those that want to use it). My main gripe with VoxOx is the program was highly unstable — it crashed a number of times while I was setting up my networks and contact lists. Once setup, I wasn’t able to message anyone, the window never opened. I restarted the application and it worked! I like the way the tabbed chatting works and the interface’s layout is nice and appealing to the eyes. I, however, was unhappy with the stability of the young program in Windows 7. I will definitely be coming back to check out future releases of VoxOx.
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