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).

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.

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.

On another, related, note, I really liked some of the Twitter/FB update clients (namely Seemic Desktop and Tweetdeck), but neither of them have added FB chat. So, this brings me to Digsby — something I found just 15 minutes ago actually. So, without further ado, help me to welcome Digsby to my newly installed Windows 7 desktop, and see where it takes me.

In related news, the various factions of the government are gathering in Washington at the Government 2.0 Summit (gov2summit or g2s for short). Here’s the skinny from the www.gov2summit.com website:

Over the past fifteen years, the rise of the World Wide Web has resulted in remarkable new possibilities and business models reshaping our culture and our economy. Now the time has come to reshape government. With the proliferation of issues and a scarcity of resources to address them all, leaders inside and outside government are turning to the principles of participation, collaboration, transparency, and efficiency to address the challenges facing our country and the world. This is the agenda of the Gov 2.0 Summit.

The Gov2Summit is headed by Tim O’Reilly (<3) and Dick O’Neill.

More info at www.gov2summit.com

Conversation with Chairman Julius Genachowski

Bill O’Reilly’s Radar

Tim O’Reilly on a platform for change.