Pidgin - universal instant messenger
Oct 14th, 2007 by Jeff
Yesterday I’ve read a few lines about Pidgin in a computer magazine and immediately downloaded it, because it looked very promising. Support of multiple protocols (AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Google Talk) is exactly what I need for technical support purposes.
Some time ago Trillian was the good option, but then I discovered QIP, which was much better in many aspects. Unfortunately, QIP works with the ICQ protocol only, but I still highly recommend it to the ICQ fans who do not like to mess with plugins. QIP already has a lot of nice features in the standard package.
Pidgin looks rather simple right after install, but it comes with plenty of plugins. There are many useful ones, so check them out. Additionaly, I’ve downloaded Guifications, a customizable plugin for “toaster” popup notifications. You can see here how it looks.
Also, you may need Extended Preferences to remove Pidgin window from taskbar and Window Positions Manager to prevent it from constantly placing new conversation windows in the top left corner.
The interface is very clean, and though it do not have all bells and whistles as the latest ICQs, I still found it very suitable for basic communications.
This is the QIP Messaging Window:
Too many buttons. 
Guess what you need to press in order to add users to your contact list? A small button with an arrow to access the user menu.
This is how Pidgin Messaging Window looks like:
This is indeed the most often used buttons, everything else can be found in the top menu.
Bottom line: this great piece of software supports many commonly used instant messaging protocols, so you will not have the need to install 5-10 separate messaging clients. Pidgin is a freeware and has versions for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes.
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There is also a portable edition. How awsum is that!? VERY
It is really a good IM. I use it managing over 10 IM accounts such as QQ,ICQ,AIM,MSN…
Sounds like Miranda IM.
Miranda IM is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Windows. Very light on system resources and extremely fast, Miranda IM requires no installation and can be made to fit on a single floppy disk or USB drive. Featuring a powerful plugin-based framework and boasting over 350 plugins, Miranda IM is one of the most flexible and customisable messaging clients on the planet.
Protocol Support
AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)
Gadu-Gadu
IAX (Inter-Asterisk Exchange)
ICQ
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
Jabber
MSN
Netsend
Tlen
Yahoo
And more…
Supported Operating Systems
Windows 95 / 98 / ME / NT / 2000 / 2003 / XP / Vista
Miranda-IM is a great program, but what turned me off about it is the inconsistencies with the GUI. There are usually many different styles of icons being used at one time. You can download and use a icon package, but changes are that the icon pack won’t have icons for all the plugins you are using. Not to mention the design of the options dialog, and the lack of a standard design for protocol options
Big hassle on my proxy network! Doesnt even detect the connection