I haven't checked out Digsby, that actually looks pretty cool. When I've had time, I've been a Trillian guy but chances to chat have been few and far between (darn families).

TheTick

I think that there is an elephant in the room that nobody is talking about: as much as I like the simple interface of pidgin, there is no support for voice and video chat! This on it's own should catapult it out of the race; the features supported are really limited this way.

BugMeNot

Digsby is the best all rounder that I have tried and supports such a lot of features as well.

When ever I've tried Trillian I've always had problems with connection to MSN.

I think once Digsby's available on Mac and Linux as well it's use will really soar.

andylogaz

Use Skype. 8-)

dota175

I've been following Digsby since the first post about it here on Lifehacker. It truly is something else. I've never been satisfied with other multi-protocol clients on Windows before (I've heard Adium is good on Mac OS, though), but for Windows it's the smartest and cleanest one around.

Btw, you can vote for which IM protocol you'd like to see next in Digsby here: [digsbies.org] (it's unofficial but the devs are looking).

Btw #2, #digsby @ irc.freenode.net is a nice place to meet fellow users and the devs (devs are voiced).

@sammeh: Yes, they say they've cleared it with the people that made the various themes.

BugMeNot

The only thing I really want in a IM aggregator app, is the MSN Plus! plugin's "Event Viewer".

This basically shows what time people signed in/out, status changes, etc.

Anyone know who has this feature built-in?

Devil

I use Adium for Microsoft and Yahoo, but reverted to iChat for Bonjour and AIM due to its easier AV chats. Using multiple clients simultaneously also lets me be logged in to the same service with multiple accounts (e.g., I run GTalk/Jabber in Adium and iChat simultaneously so I can have my personal GTalk in one and Twitter in the other).

Logical Extremes

pidgin got my vote... i tried digsby, but it looks like they have problems with the msn... and even if id would work, the skype plugin for pidgin gets the final points...

pixelgeek

I currently use Pidgin on Windows and Adium on OS X and both of them perfectly serve my simple IM needs. Before Pidgin I used Trillian for years but found it's a resource hog compared to Pidgin, not to mention it's very outdated and the fact that Trillian Astra is still in its APLHA phase is completely ridiculous.
I will give Digsby a try though.

anticitizenone

@lilkeith7: Someone say Weeaboo?

[pbfcomics.com]

DemolitionMan

I REALLY want to try Digsby but alas, I'm a Linux user. Ergo, Pidgin wins my vote out of necessity! I've been a looong time Pidgin (gaim) user, and it really just fits the bill. But the integration Digsby could offer me might make me switch... as soon as that promised Linux version arrives.

sceo

Based on the comments yesterday, I installed Digsby. It is what I've always dreamed about in an IM client. Plus, the Facebook support can't be beat.

reenum

I've used all these apps, and they all hold a special place in my heart. Trillian was my first crossclient app and it really made me fall in love with IM. I didn't need to run the ad ridden AIM client, the ad ridden Yahoo! client, the crappy msn client. But when Google talk came out, it failed to provide support via the free version, so I moved on.

Pidgin I've used for many years, back when it was gaim during my foray in to the linux variety of operating systems. Rock solid client, but not the easiest to use. Love the minimal interface though. Windows client is a bit harder to set up then the linux (Like a lot of ports) - but still my main client on windows until Digsby.

Meebo I use fairly regularly from my ipod touch.

Adium is the client I wish I could use. My wife has an iMac, and I would kill for this messaging app. It's just so.. beautiful. And with the growl notification package - Wow!

And finally, the app I'm using now on my windows machine is Digsby. It's really what Pidgin should be. Clean, yet functional and polished. I don't use the email aspect of it, but that's just because I've got thunderbird checking all my gmail accounts via IMAP.

----

Really, it depends on what OS I'm in as to what I like to use. Windows gets Digsby, Mac gets Adium, and Linux gets Pidgin.

shockwaver

I was a diehard Trillian user since the first pre-release. Then they took absolutely forever (3+ years) to come out with the latest version (it's *STILL* in testing, give me a break.)

I moved to Pidgin and found its resource footprint to be light and quick, which was great, but there was still that EXTRA "something" that was missing.

My friend showed me Digsby on Tuesday and since using it, HOLY CRAP. By far the most useful, simple, quick instant messaging tool I've used. I love where it's going!

fullman

For those who like meebo theres a version of it for the desktop using Adobe Air you can get a copy of it Here.

lilkeith7

Definitely Pidgin... There is no other client (unfortunately) that can offer anywhere the same level of cross-platform support, stability, and just working.

Daniel

what about Kopote on KDE Linux??? I love it lol!

superbryant88

I feel bad for voting for Digsby because Pidgin got me through some hard times when I was forced to learn Linux on the fly because my windows box died and I had no money....But I digress Digsby is a fine app. Its social network and email integration is a godsend. I see Digsby going far. :)

superbryant88

Digsby looks really cool, but unfortunately I am tied to the Sametime protocol at work which is the only place I use IM, so I'm going to have to stick with Pidgin for now.

Troy F.

Is Digsby allowed to use Adium themes?

sammeh

Thank you for this analysis. This is definitely a bookmarker. Wisdom of the crowds speaks volumes....

This is the way recommendations should be made
[digg.com]

SEARCH ENGINES

I have to say the same. In only two days of using Digsby, it's smuggled my vote entirely away from Pidgin. Better design, better customization of the interface, more intuitive controls and options...what a great find!

Additionally, I feel more productive because I have my GMail connected to Digsby now, which means that while I'm working, I can close my GMail notifier and yet still see how many e-mails I have when I bring Digsby back to life from the system tray.

Great app, and seems to be continually on its way to becoming better.

If you haven't voted, try it before you do. I believe it will surprise you as it did me.

Sean Killeen

I just started using Digsby, and I have to say im really impressed with it.

radink360

If Digsby was a standalone app and didnt need their servers, I would probably like it, but I voted for Pidgin. It wouldnt connect thru a proxy for me either.

Zerbe

simply missing the "other" in the poll.

JrezIN

For me, it's difficult to compare a web based client (such as meebo) to no-web client (such as pidgin).
Sometimes, you are not going to have any other option that use meebo (firewall restrictions).
In other situations, you would prefer to use pidgin for example.

malbec

@Bash_: Miranda is at the bottom where it says "Honorable mention goes to Miranda IM...".

Digsby definitely has my vote. Using Adium conversation skins is great, too.

jhofker

I put in my vote for Pidgin yesterday and it's still got it. I'm holding off on trying Digsby until I stop seeing so many issues with CPU usage.

I have to say though, I hadn't taken a look at the Astra specs; they're pretty promising for what I want out of an IM program. I might be switching back to Trillian once it drops.

SpaceMonkey42

Digsby has Skype functionality in production

gpzbc

Excuse me... but where is Miranda im!? Its just what I need and want, using pidgin when on linux, which is quite often, but mostly on windows anyway, and using miranda im!!!!

Bash_

I've been a die hard pidgin/gaim user for years. I'm going to try digsby tonight though.

JiveMasterT

@radink360: ditto

gpzbc

I love Pidgin for its simplicity and plugins, but I am definitely going to try Digsby now. The email/Facebook components sound great.

Webran61

It's too bad none of them can do Skype chat.

inboulder1

Trillian gets my vote. While I use Adium at home, Trillian Pro was the first "shareware" I purchased. As one who once refused to purchase software when I could have an "extended trial", that means a lot.

I really enjoy Trillian Astra. While it's not yet Beta ready in my opinion, it's a huge improvement on the previous releases --- which were great in their own right.
Cerulean Studios is continuing their habit of developing great software, albeit slowly.

EchoD

I don't "chat". I don't have a Mac. But I like the duck... can't explain it. :D Meh.

GlennA

I tried Digsby multiple times. It LOOKS pretty, but I want good functionality with minimal performance impact on my system - so I keep on going back to Pidgin. It does what it does very well, is very small on resource requirements (Digsby just takes up way too much CPU), and its interface is plenty fast (I'm mister impatient). Digsby's UI responsiveness was also noticeably slower. I do wish Pidgin would someday support the Social Networks like Digsby, but it's not worth slowing down my PC more than it already is.

takabanana

I just started using Digsby right now, but I gotta say I am thoroughly impressed! I can definitely see this going far.

On a side note, does anybody know how to disable the smilies on Digsby? I hate smilies in general but I didn't see an option to disable.

Genocyde

For AIM, I'd like to use Pidgin/GAIM, but it doesn't do file transfers well, and that gets me into trouble with my friends.

Trillan does file transfers, and handles other things nicely, but I don't like it's custom windowing and limited preferences. It gets obnoxious quickly.

I've used Digsby. It's great for tying everything together, and it's popup boxes are excellent, but commits a few cardinal sins:
- It takes up massive CPU to do the smooth scrolling of messages. Hint: Scrolling can take a back seat to Winamp and business applications.
- It kicks me out of full screen games on new messages, even after I tell it not to. Naughty, naughty.

Caidence

Digsby is the new kid on the playground and willing to share his swing! Loves the Digsby!

frappe987

"The requested URL /&error=SXQgYXBwZWFycyB5b3UndmUgYWxyZWFkeSB2b3RlZCBpbiB0aGlzIHBvbGwu was not found on this server."

I get this everytime I try to vote.

Heinecke

I've really grown to love Meebo, no install and little (if any) extra overhead. Plus my workplace doesn't block it yet!

rainmkr

Due to this post, I've tried Digsby, and I must say that it is impressive that a single application can handle social networking, IM, and e-mail all at the same time and make it make sense.

I love the notifications when new mail arrives, and I also like how if an IM window doesn't have focus, a notification type window appears, and it even has a textbox for typing, to keep the conversation going.

Digsby has so much potential...

tap52384

I have Digsby installed and I've been experimenting with it here at work. I like it. So my vote goes to it.

Although I STILL have a special place in my heart for DeadAIM and an older AIM client. =P

misterlee

Adium is the only IM client since DeadAIM I've used that I haven't hated. It's pretty much everything I want.

dmac

I too liked Trillian until it seemed that the developers gave up on it. Also the Trillian Jabber plug in is TERRIBLE, and unfortunately my employer has moved exclusively to Jabber.

Pandion seems to be the best Jabber client.

axiomatic

When I expressed my happiness with Trillian Astra in my comment on the previous post, I forgot to mention that Astra also has a web-based interface a la Meebo, which your contact list is automatically synced to. So far the web interface is pretty rudimentary, but it's very promising.

Swirlee

Digsby. By far. I've only used it for about a week and a half now but I know I'm not going back to any other stand alone client.

With that said, I would love to try out some of the other IM apps.

SA

Adium is still my favorite for Mac, though I'm very interested in Digsby for my PC now.

Jesse Read

If anybody knows about a Live Communication Server plugin for Pidgin that'll let me connect to the Exchange server at work, I'd like to hear about it. That's what's keeping me on Trillian.

Darcy

@Caidence: There are options in Digsby's preferences to disable new windows and popups when running fullscreen apps.

SenorDunda

@dirtybacon: nevermind, it's working now for some reason. The above post never happened. These are not the droids you are looking for.

dirtybacon

I'm trying out Digsby, but I can't appear offline to contacts with Yahoo. Is this happening to everyone? It seems like most of these "do-it-alls" never include that feature. I want to appear online to only certain people most of the time, but not get rid of any friends. Anyone know if I am missing something?

dirtybacon

I have been trying out Digsby for a few days now and I LOVE it. I am yet to encounter any bugs. My only beef with it is the fact that it sucks up a lot of memory. But I can live with that until the developers are able to trim it down. Plus the memory issue is not as big of a deal when you consider the multiple IM apps and email notifier apps that Digsby is replacing. For me, I have been able to close 3 or 4 other apps and replace them with Digsby. Considering that, the memory use isn't that big.

I also like that the developers seem to be very active in Digsby development.
Highly recommended!

gpzbc

Trillian is taking a pathetically long time to come out with the new version. I think they may be aiming too high with it. And the old one is increasingly outdated. I just downloaded Digsby and it's looking good so far. They may have a new convert.

Sharpless

I stick with AIM Lite. Nobody I know uses anything but AIM so I don't need multi-protocol functionality, and it takes up 40MB less of my memory than Digsby.

ChuckBales

I'm a Digsby fan myself (used to use Pidgin) - but it seems since Twitter support was added and it went into public beta last month, It doesn't seem as stable.

I find it locking up on me when checking my MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter news feeds.

Digsby still comes as close as I've seen to an online "Swiss Army Knife". For its relative newness, it shows a lot of promise.

vanillacokehead

@Genocyde: Same here Just started using Digsby now and love it. It is nice that it connects everything. It also looks nice with many different skins to use.

bbobjoe

well Digsby sounds pretty cool i think i will try it, but right now i am happy with Gtalk and Amsn. As i heard before, Keep it as simple as possible :)

salu2.

ChambrasWeed

Trillian is nice... but I hate the idea of "closed development" and having to pay to use Jabber/XMPP/GTalk.

Digsby is nice and pretty but it ran really laggy/bloated on my computer.

Meebo is great for use at public computers.... and that's about it...

Pidgin, while not perfect, is growing RAPIDLY and is my hands down favorite. I have it installed on my desktop at home and carry a portable copy around on my thumbdrive. X-Fire plugin FTW!

djxspike

As above, I can't stick to Digsby simply because of the lack of IRC. Pidgin does everything I could ask of it, except for looking good doing it. Miranda IM does the looking good, but not quite everything I want (i.e. only one IRC server connection at a time).

What I'd love to see is one of these clients adding a plugin for IRC scripts. I really ought to write one, but I just don't have the time.

wererogue

I just tried out Digsby and, although I like it, there are a few features that are missing.

1) IRC support. I use IRC, and I don't want to have to open multiple apps just to get my chat on.
2) A/V support (but to be fair, not all of them have A/V support). I wish more would be able to do A/V support with all the standard clients, especially MSN Messenger (which I use video chat support for all the time).

I did like how it checked all my mail and actually went straight to the mailbox when I clicked on it, unlike Trillian used to.

But I picked Gai... err, Pidgin because that's what I use now and it does most of what I want (except the A/V part, I still fire up regular MSN Messenger for that).

fuzzycuffs

miranda?

darshil

@lilkeith7: yeah, but then i have to use adobe air. no thanks.

firesign

With digsby and ping.fm I am a happy bunny.

musab

* IM Clients ... not browsers.. sorry.

fuderyuu

@fullman:

Same story here. Not going to bore everyone here with more fascinating stories on my IM ventures, suffice to say that what won me over with Digsby was the ability to install the client on 3 different machines, and have my preferences follow me as I go. Everything else with Digsby was just the icing on the cake. I used to do Foldershare to keep my browsers in sync at home, work, and laptop - no more. Just plain old Digsby.

The ability to get enough info on my incoming emails to decide to either delete them on the spot was also an added bonus helping me keep my inbox as close to zero as possible.

*Sorry if I'm repeating things - at work and didn't want to spend half an hour reading comments here.

fuderyuu

Do Digsby or Pidgin do video chat?

kftgr

Google Talk is the only IM program that can get through my stupid company firewall. Oh wait, Office Communicator works too...*sigh*

TheChadd

I voted for Pidgin. Everyone raves about Digsby and I do like a lot of it's features, but it takes up SO much memory on my machine. Typically around 80-90 MB.

Seriously! Am I the only one who has a major beef with this? It's not like I'm trying to run Visual Studio, it's a simple IM app. Please, Digsby, for the love of all that good, reduce your memory footprint.

chichikov

Digsby all the way, only thing missing is Myspace IM.

nerfball1976

Besides digsby seems to be great app (need performance improvements) I will stay with pidgin, it is small, has a decent performance and does its work well.

gyr

As a Linux user at home I'm a Pidgin fan, except that I use a webcam with MSN so that my father can see my 2yo son and I can't seem to get Pidgen to work with MSN for video so then I have to bounce over to windows and use MSN's native client. If anyone knows a good MSN-Video client for linux please e-mail Bjames with a domain of jamesgang.dyndns.org

CyberCowboy

my cousin's roomate founded meebo, so i've gotta go with that lol
but i use pidgin on ubuntu, and that's pretty great
but aim is a very good client, so there isnt much of a need to get away from that unless you are a open source fanatic, or need to use yahoo/msn/google/etc

eagledrc

@krom: I e-mailed Steve, one of the Digsby devs, last night about IRC support. The app is still in public beta, so they're working on getting all the bugs worked out and improving performance. He says that IRC is near the top of their list.

The required signup is for portability. So you can setup all your accounts on one computer, install Digsby on your other, and just sign in with your Digsby info, and all your accounts will be there. And I don't know why it's "worrisome", as I'm sure you have accounts w/ username/password on countless other sites (ie Google).

And their "Google-Powered Digsby Search"? Uncheck the box. Nothing left to worry about.

booticon

Trillian made the list, but Miranda didn't?

This is nonsense.

Urza

Started using Digsby yesterday, and my god I'm in love. I have a new computer w/ 2GB of RAM, so I'm fine with the memory usage; it uses freakin' .NET and it's constantly monitoring Facebook/MySpace/Twitter/POP3 and you can have, what, 5 IM protocols running at once? Not a big deal.

booticon

Meebo's great, just don't try to use a WeeMee.

As far as Gmail with AIM goes, it's the best.

Benjo

Digsby doesn't have IRC? What gives?

What's with the required signup? What's that all about?

Make Google Powered Digsby Search my home page? Uh, no thanks.

I am really not understanding / liking the whole having to have a Digsby account and having to log into it just to use the client.

Meanwhile Pidgin's FAQ lists all sorts of issues, including serious interface confusion bloopers, and the inability to import/export contacts without a development tool.

Trillian works out of the box, doesn't require Digsby's worrisiome extra account and login form, and ships with automation capabilities. For a paid version you can use free plugins for all those extra less-than-practical services.

krom

If you use Digsby or Pidgin, do either of them store your GTalk chats in Gmail? You don't know how many times I've had to go back to a chat session to find information when using GTalk, and it's very nice to have all that archived right there.

kirnkorner2001

Tried Digsby, feels like a rough beta to me right now. And I don't feel like being a beta tester for closed-source software.

Why the f*** do I appear as a GoogleTalk friend of myself? This is queer. Now, poor Right-to-left support may be something of a marginal issue for most people out there, but hey, it's windows and it shouldn't be difficult to do. And then as mentioned memory consumption is appalling, and it adds this multitude of icons to the notification area.

Finally, I don't really like those Digsby people keeping all my profiles data for all my accounts. How comes nobody mentioned it so far?

So for now I stick to Pidgin.

daph2001

I am a long time pidgin/gaim user on Linux & Windoze, but when I read about digsby in Tuesday's article, I was intrigued. I set it up right then and there on my laptop, and instantly liked it. I'm now using it on my desktop as well. Love the twitter & email integration.

DizkoDan

@Genocyde we will add this feature very shortly along with emoticon libraries

shaps776

As far as I can see they ALL have weaknesses so choosing a best is like casting a primary ballot - lots of wishing and hope.

IRC is still a requirement for any "IM App", I hope Digsby gets that rolling. A portable version is also a huge deal as there are times I life off a 2gb cruzer.

Mayhaps I'll give Pidgin a go. I gave up gaim a while back for Trillian (and portable Miranda) simply because it was fug and on windows messing with the GTK stuff just added an extra level of uninstal/reinstall/troubleshooting whenever I found a quirky bug.

I do like the look of Digsby. Add IRC and make it portable!

HEL

@Zerbe - it connects to the Digsby servers to synchronize your preferences so if you reinstall it or run it from another computer everything from the skin you chose to whether or not to play a sound when an IM arrives is exactly the same without having to redo all the settings.

shaps776

@jmdeshazer Digsby offers video chat across protocols (including Jabber)

shaps776

@kftgr: Pidgin does not support video chat. Trillian is the only one listed that I'm aware that does, however you have to spend $25 for the full feature version.

jmdeshazer

Wow... that is a hard one... I use Trillian on the windows machine, adium on the macbook pro, and meebo at work.

I love them all...

Gamr

LOVE Digsby. Got it a while back when it was invite only and for a few precious moments I was queen geek at the PAS offices. ;)

cparmele

Adium. It's all I need wrapped up in an impressive GUI. Bingo.

dragontail

I tried digsby yesterday and I'm very impressed. The only thing I don't like about it, as others have mentioned is the high ram/cpu usage. I think this will change though as the program is being actively developed.

jaba

I still use an early (pre-bloated) version of AOL instant messenger with the ad hack installed. It has a tiny memory footprint, takes up no space on my hdd, and does everything I want out of a chat program, that is: Chat, and file transfer. The interface is absolutely streamlined, with no clutter, no extra crap I don't want(email, really? Why?) and I've never had a problem with it.

Of course, im one of those people who hates tabbed browsing, so I guess im kind of a luddite.

wftm

Two questions about digsby:
1/ Does it work with skype (closed protocol :-()?
2/ Does it behave well behind a corporate firewall, i believe i once tried it and it couldn't connect to msn or gtalk?
Thanks for answering!

jvleminc

iChat+Chax is better than all of those. Honestly, I tend to prefer open source programs. But iChat+Chax is customizable, has amazing screen sharing, video, and audio chat, and is more reliable than the rest. It's just better-written software. Adium is ugly and sloppy. The only thing iChat lacks is MSN support, but I actually just use yahoo messenger for that.

brettt

Digsby has my vote, although I would like IRC support. Digsby is just awesome, notify's me of new emails,facebook changes, and does my aim and yahoo. What I would love to see is nudge and custom smilie support though for MSN, then I would only use digsby. Then xfire and skype would be nice....

DarthDie

Oh man, no one has said irssi + bitlbee? <3

Glen C.

I tried Digsby last week and besides the high mem use problem, its a very nice app. I like the twitter integration, and the ability to email contacts right inside a chat window. I have been a trillian user for several years, and I have been using the Trillian Astra Alpha for however long its been (I agree with others about how long this is taking.. Its been in alpha for like a year now). The one thing that really keeps me using trillian is an RSS reader plugin. I am so attached to RSS feed s in the contact list there, its hard for me to start using digsby. Trillian also has the email account integration but doesnt have the awesome ability of digsby to actually read gmail messages and allow you to perform actions on them without opening gmail. That is slick.

twoback

I think Digsby sounds cool, but, if there is no Linux version, rather useless.

While I run Windoze some of the time, I also run Linux some of the time.

So, no go..

mauriceh

I like Miranda, it has a 2k memory footprint most of the time and lets me connect to all the major networks. In addition I can set its options to take no screen space.

kylere

So, were only cross-network apps allowed? I mean, what if I like all the features of Yahoo or MSN Messenger?

burnblue

Adium is amazing for OSX. I absolutely love it and all the plug ins people have came out for it. On windows side, im still trying to find a favorite.

SReeder

@krom: It is so that they can store your preferences across computers.

gpzbc

@kirnkorner2001: I too was concerned about whether or not my Google Chats were being stored as usual on Google servers. I also often reference my chats at a later point. I can confirm that they are indeed stored.

gpzbc

Thank God for you lifehack. With meebo, I have now found a whole new way to squander company resources and circumvent the block on instant messengers.

Also, tried Trillian once for a week and uninstalled it as soon as I had a free fifteen minutes. That application killed my resources and locked up all the time.

TruPhan

There are a ton of comments here, and I don't have time to read them all. Here are a few of my thoughts on IM clients (I haven't voted in the poll though).

I've been using Trillian for a long time. I tried Gaim, now Pidgin, but I didn't like the way it handled pop-up notifications for new e-mails -- they wouldn't go away until I closed them, which was kind of annoying because they'd build up while I slept, leaving me sometimes dozens of windows to close. So I went back to Trillian.

After seeing all the votes for Digsby here, I decided to give it a try. Taking care of IM, e-mail, and some social networking in one application is convenient, even if I don't use all of them regularly. Digsby's new mail notifications are good (they automatically close after a brief appearance), and it seems to handle most of the things I do pretty well.

So far, the main service I've seen in Trillian that I can't seem to find in Disgby, is IRC. This is another service that I use on occasion, and it would be nice if Digsby could handle that so I wouldn't need a separate application for it. The basic version of Trillian won't do Google Talk though, IIRC, and Digsby does. So there are probably other differences, but for the main ones I use, Digsby and Trillian are pretty close.

The other thing I noticed is how e-mails are opened from Digsby. For one, my Yahoo mail opened in the original version of the Yahoo! Mail, not the "All-New Mail", even though I normally use the new version. At least it opens with the full mail service though -- Gmail messages opened in a screen that had nothing but that one message (thread). Hotmail appeared to open in a full service as well, and used the full interface rather than the simplified one. These aren't major issues, but I would prefer Yahoo to use the new interface if that's what you're normally using and Gmail to open in a full service manner like Yahoo and Hotmail rather than a single message/thread view.

For the moment, I think I'll keep Digsby running, with Trillian serving as my IRC client. Unless Pidgin does something about their mail notifications, I don't have any intention of using it regularly as my standard client. As for the others, I don't or use a Mac, so no Adium for me, and I think Meebo being web-based has its place, but more for quick communication than a daily-use client.

Dronak

I forgot to comment on the poll thread the other day the other reason I like Pidgin: Cross platform. I use Linux on my work laptop and Windows on my system at home, and run Pidgin with both.

Sorry Digsby, no chance here.

jtimberman

I was also impressed with Digsby's look and feel but was dismayed when I saw it's memory footprint almost TWICE what Pidgin's was. I suppose that's a fair trade-off for the extra features if you need them.

Russell Friesenhahn

Digsby has a lot of promise, and the fact that the developers are working damned hard on their app bodes well for that little green egg. I used Trillian Astra until Digsby came along. Tried out Gaim (er, Pidgin) several times, but it's just too minimalist for my tastes.

asurroca

I just wanted to put a note on here about trillian (well two actually). Firstly trillians the best app I have found to support protocol dependant features (like MSN's ink). Secondly something that wasn't noted above is that everyone who has an Astra account has all of thier im information stored on trillians server, and you can login to any desktop with it all copied. On top of that there is a web-based flash client that supports the same thing, so anyone can sign into www.trillian.im from anywhere on any flash supported browser and get all of thier first and ims through it.

elbweb

I think kopete, pidgin, and adium should be a bundled item on the list. but here's my pick

gnome:pidgin

K: kopete

OS X: adium, with ichat for video

Windows: Trillian Astra

almostdvs

@gpzbc: A few people have mentioned Skype plugins for these apps. My experience with the Trillian one was not good - essentially you had to have Skype running, disable all of its notifications and popups, and then Trillian would hook into it to send IMs and pull contact lists.

My understanding of how Skype works suggests that the same would be true of the Pidgin and Digsby plugins, can anyone comment on this?

I actually like the IM functionality in Skype a lot, I wonder if it will ever become a multi-protocol client?

MattHall

Pidgin gets my vote :). Simple and Smart :)

Nxqd3051990

I started using Digsby because of this little competition. I've been using it for a couple days now and I must say, with the integration of my gmail, Facebook, and twitter, alongside my AIM and MSN IM accounts...I love it! I used to be an avid Pidgin user, but Digsby definitely takes the cake for me.

Eschguy

Meebo isn't really an application but i've used it the longest, so I guess I'll go with Pidgin either Digsby or Pidgin. But with my recent war, I haven't used Instant Messengers Lately =/ Cant decide.

ph15h

Pidgin is a joke. Bandwagon people jumping to a new IM, when it dosent support skins, and you can't differenciate between what clinets you have logged on, and how they relate to your contact list.

skilled1

I'm really dissapointed that Trillian made it to the list, and Miranda didn't. I started using miranda long time ago, when Trillian appeared I tried using it, because I thought it would be revolutionary, but it sucked so much that I said that I won't touch it again.. I'm not sure what's the current situation with Trillian, but back then memory footprint was something I paid attention to (and I still do now), and Trillian was eating about 20MB (sic!), while Miranda - 3-4MB.

I thought that people reading lifehacker.com have a sense of what's a real lifehacker's IM - and that is definetely Miranda - well, I was mistaken... what a shame...

bzx

I use Pidgin now, and that is what I voted for. I use to use Trillian, but decided to go open source. I might check out Digsby though never heard about it before this article.

danikar

a lot of these other clients sound really great (and back when I used a Windows machine I did use trillian, but it was such a long time ago...) but. Adium wins out as the best OSX client, in my opinion, simply because none of these others work with my mac. I really hope a couple (pidgin or digsby?) find their way to my OS because I'd like to try them out....

Keakealani

Digsby uses more memory than firefox or dwm (vista's window manager)... but it's worth every megabyte.

binaryspiral

I haven't tried them all but Meebo with it's six IM chat client handelings plus Iphone/ipod toO with a global useability Meebo ranks Treezone's The Five Paw Awards already at the treezone broker's yard, free2use&free2keep web domain. Not only is it OS friendly but it's also IM friendly and will close down and open any IM connection that does not allow double signing-in's even works with Yahoo the hardest IM to manage at present and when your finished talking to a friend on a particular IM program having Meebo reconnect to that IM is as simple as two clicks away.
Also with all those Rooms to visit "and make" doubles the pleasure at no computer cost hardly at all. no heavey downloads and installs ever month if you can't be bothered (do the Meebo team look bothered "get over it" They don't look bothered tO me, they just keep it updated for you on there server great going Meebo team)
Then I give them top billing for their Meebo widgets on your own home page making it possible to have various people on one page that visitors can call upon, Such teachers at a school for the students to contact about projects and activities, or just have one on each page, for Live guidence to all your visitors, and it can be live microphone and camera ready for them also just hit the rocket and talk live to your visitors, you can have the Meebo used as a store keepers widget what a bonus for the future internet shopper and seller, beats any form of (Spam-blam) and your assured that those that are visiting your page is really a prospective client, a superlative effort for those few year of tweaking the upgrade's of many to all the Meebo team plus they hire from their users list, How cool is that, not just anyone. You know when a team effort goes all the way to please their IM public when they ask you to come over and have a coffee and cake if your passing by their office and even give you a job if your the right member for the team and a kean sense of loyalty is born from these wonderful people.
Three global Cheers to the Meebo Team hip hip ....with complements from mdbobbo and treezone

mdbobbo

As a Trillian Adium alpha tester, I can say once it drops it's gonna be fantastic. The integration of email, IM, etc. works extremely well, and the support for video and audio calls should be fantastic once it's polished off. The memory footprint's pretty slim (20 megs or so), and it's reasonably stable - for an alpha build anyway. I just hope the development hurries up.

deepomega

i can't believe i've never heard of digby. now i don't need afacebook and a gmail firefox extension and i don't have to stare at the dullness of pidgin. excellent.

antares.iv

Digsby does indeed look very cool, but given 90% of the people I communicate with via IM are on Skype, its a dead duck for me until some kind of compatibility emerges... :(

portobello_man

I use Adium at work for Jabber, but have trouble getting through the firewall for other services. I've just started using Meebo, and it's fantastic. I use the Firefox extension and the iPhone interface when not at my computer.

sheris

iChat for Leopard now has a seemless Screen Share mode. For those that need to train others Mac to Mac, there is no other better IM.

braintoniq

I used to use Tillian, but then I switched over to Digsby and have never looked back. It is by far the best chat client that I have ever used and I have never noticed any problems with resources on my machine.

I would really like it to support Sametime as I use that at work (I already voted for it in the Digsby poll).

RS1990

I voted for Trillian. But I wanted to move to Pidgin and step away from the aging Trillian Pro program I use all the time. But the one thing that keeps me from using Trillian Pro is AIM's Direct Connect. When I sent a direct connect with Pidgin it takes forever or never connects. Is there a way to get direct connect working with pidgin?

MegaSam

Meebo offers video through the tokbox application. They even offer group video chat. It's pretty cool and web based. No crazy software to download and slow up your computer.

funtimes

Hey John,

You can Video chat through meebo with the TokBox application. It's pretty cool, you should check it out. You can also do Group video chat!! it's fun stuff.

funtimes

I really wanted to give Pidgin a go and step away from the aging Trillian Pro that I use all the time. But one thing that stops me from going to the other IM clients and staying with Trillian Pro is that it still works with AIM's Direct Connect. With pidgin if I sent a Direct connect to someone it would take forever or not work at all. Is there a way to fix this in Pidgin?

MegaSam

Well, I don't use any of those 'social' things, I don't rly like them, so that Digsby is nothing for me. Sadly I'm currently using Pidgin on windows, but I really really hate the interface, I can't understand that anyone thinks this is any good. I used to use Trillian, which has a better UI due to it's customizability though it is a bit bloated, but doesn't work very well with XMPP/Jabber/Gmail stuff.

Pidgin is too spartan, that user-interface is designed by someone with a typical Gnome/GTK backgroung, someone who does not know how to create a simple but powerfull user-interface... It looks and is simple - a bit too simple, and very user-unfriendly for the power-user.

Some totally illogical behavior is inherited from GTK - I never understood the thing when you press a key in the main list? Some text-field a'la search thing pops up, but you can't close it and blocks the whole app for a few seconds, and the searching itself is totally illogical. On the other hand, grouping someone with multiple accounts should be something very normal for a client that supports multiple protocols, but the the way Pidgin represents this is horrible. I cannot see in my list if someone has multiple account, I have to hover the contact and wait for a tooltip to appear, or right click it and see if there is an 'expand' option. Then to actually select an account, I have to right-click and select 'expand' before I can actually select some account. What's wrong with a simple '+' icon? Also, hotkeys - what's that? I couldn't even find a plugin which does that...

Anyway - on linux, I go Kopete all the way, there is no substitute for me.

KoFFiE

I prefer QIP Infium

PvUtrix

MIranda???

I suppose with MIranda'a Addon page being down for so long, it may be folks cannot get to mess with it as easily. To find addons you have to weave at the moment. Tsk tsk tsk.

I tried Digsby after all the chatter and it is NOT as good as Miranda imo... yet Miranda did not make the cut. MIranda could be customized to look exactly like Digsby.

DasLife

Until a client adds native a/v support, I'm not budging from Windows Live Messenger. I'm sorry, but, as a teenager, I need webcam and mic support, as so many of my friends live far away (across the atlantic, and in South America), the only chance that I get to talk to them face-to-face is via webcam. It is this issue, and this issue alone that is stopping me from moving to Linux, and and Digsby (on Windows). I know it's probably a bitch to program, but come on, these programs aren't nearly as big as they could be, should these include native a/v support.

Roriniho

tested Digsby..too much memory consume. It takes me 100mb memory :/.. I'll stick to Pidgin ;)

SmallKing

I've been using Digsby for a while now and one of the killer features for me is the widget that allows you to put a chat box into a site so that you can be IMed directly by visitors to your site/facebook profile etc.

If I needed any convincing, within two hours of adding the widget I got a message from Eric Meyer to discuss a blog post in which I had mentioned him.

That sort of feedback mechanism in addition to aggregating the other services makes Digsby the winner for me.

Techn0tic

IRC, RSS feeds, Jabber, and other plugins is what keeps me on Trillian. (Yes, Trillian has been able to do all that for years and years.)

Yes, I am disappointed that it has not progressed in the time since it was first released, but the fact that it still does what the others have not (cannot?) says something about just how good it still is.

It's still truly one to rule them all.

Equis

They all sound great!
But what can compare with Meebo's widgets: "meebo me"

upmendez

I love Meebo and that's what I use everyday. I don't have to download anything nor I need any plugins.

I use GTalk, Yahoo and MSN.

Lawk Salih

I don't get the point of these Hive Five segments. They just point out the most famous ones that everyone uses.. and don't do anything to show the (maybe better) options that most people don't know about.

Anyone could have predicted that these 5 would win before we started, like anyone could have predicted that Picasa and Flickr would win in the last one. (though i still believe there are several better versions of picasa (f-spot) and that there are a number of sites that have overtaken the rather stagnant flickr in recent years.

It'd be nice if you guys did some editorial work and maybe checked out a few of the LESS well known ones in the comments.

soul_grind

Digsby = killer app

do tell

by inboulder1 at 10:26 AM on 04/03/08 Reply
It's too bad none of them can do Skype chat.

Adium can, it has a plugin.

sammeh

Pidgin is my love, I have to admit. Especially after learning how to tweak the scheme, Thanks LH!

However, this Digby business is interesting, but I'm not convinced I'd want all that. I don't want to be more of a facebook addict, and the e-mail integration is nice, but if it only does gmail and/or Yahoo! then I'm up the creek without a paddle. I'm going to give it a shot, though, because if there's one thing I'd like Pidgin to take/learn from them would be that nice, clean, functional, and reply-able notification window.

Hell, Adium could learn from that.

MIKEAWESOME

As much as I like Digsby, my vote goes for Pidgin. I ran a few comparisons. Digsby can easily get over 100MB of memory usage while switching between skins and idles somewhere over 50MB for typical conversations. Pidgin is usually fairly steady below 26MB. Since I use my Windows partition for only gaming (I primarily use Ubuntu), every scrap of memory is important. Pidgin is my choice in Linux as well.

asim0v

Meebo is the best for a business environment as it skips over any firewalling someone might have setup for aol.com. We can't access AOL at all here at work but meebo allows me to stay in contact with those that I want at any point during the day.

I use pidgin at home and love that too so I'm torn on making a decision.

phimuskapsi

So can Pidgin, it uses libpurple just like Adium does.

[myjobspace.co.nz] <-- Skype Plugin for Adium/Pidgin/libpurple.

thejynxed

Switched to digsby a while ago and haven't looked back. They respond to bug reports and continually work to make it better. Its pretty fantastic

mk47funk

I've used most of the above and I have to say Adium is my current favorite until they port Digsby to OS X where I might change my vote.

Jazzdance

I love Pidgin, but as MSN is the network that I have to do all my instant messaging on, the lack of offline message support is a big issue for me. While searching for a client that better suited my needs I came across EMESENE. I'm surprised this one isn't better known (I haven't seen it referenced here). It's very lightweight, has an elegant and unobtrusive interface, and best of all includes proper offline messaging support over the MSN protocol! If you are like me and you primarily need to use MSN as your IM network on Linux or Windows, definitely check out emesene ([www.emesene.org]). A client that definitely deserves more attention.

macaco

meebo helps keep network snooping at work to a minimum.
Whereas the archives stay on the meebo server and not your your box at work. or through another server the network admin designates. now i know they can still snoop on the traffic over the network.. but it entails alot more work for them to do it.. and they probably wont go to that extreme at many clients.

thats the main reason i use meebo.. webbased chat rocks

kboy007

@sammeh: No it doesn't, it's the same useless plugin for pidgin, you have to have skype running simultaneously, so it's pointless.

inboulder1

@gpzbc: "Digsby has Skype functionality in production"

No it doesn't, they have it on their roadmap but it certainly isn't in production, unless you mean production as in they're coding it (which is not how software terminology works). The level of technical expertise, reverse engineering the skype protocol from obfuscated source is probably beyond the level of the digsby guys, but who knows, maybe they'll surprise us.

@pixelgeek: the pidgin plugin is essentially useless, it requires skype to be running, so what's the point?

inboulder1

I don't understand how Digsby uses more memory than Firefox. At most Digsby uses about 80mb where Firefox steadly rises from 90mb to nearly 600mb in Vista. So compared to that, Digsby isn't too much of a Memory hog. I remembered more slowdown in Trillian than I ever have with Digsby.

I used to love Trillian but as many others have said, it's slowly getting outdated and I don't like having to pay for premium services when I can get the same for free from other programs.

Digsby got my vote even though I love Meebo and being able to use it at work without the bosses knowing. Also, Digsby is still in beta, so once it comes out of that, I doubt there'll be much complaint.

DianaMoon

I am all about the Digsby. I installed it and Trillian hit the trash this morning

One2ManyCords

Pidgin lost my vote for eating all my messages tonight. Go meebo!

VioletArrows

Just a word of advice: If you're using only MSN with Pidgin then you should immediately switch to Emesene. I used to use Pidgin exclusively in Linux but with version 2.4.0 I finally noticed that they just don't care about the MSN protocol and its development in Pidgin is basically dead.

Pidgin's interface might be slightly nicer but with Emesene you don't have to suffer from the 3kB/s file transfer speeds and the lack of 90% of MSN's features like status messages and custom smileys. [www.emesene.org]

SlugO

Meebo gets my vote. I was a Trillian lover, then I gave Miranda a short try but ever since I used Meebo I've stuck with it.

Since I switch computers daily about three times, Meebo is a great, centralised location where all my preferences and (most importantly) chat logs are found.

I don't need to install an application, I don't even need a portable app on a memory stick, all I need is the internet browser and of course the connection, and there I am.

Also, the fact that it's an online app means that it is updated often and you are always using the latest version.

Meebo rocks.

Bassem B.

I love meebo...I like not having to download something to use it...it's so foot-loose and fancy free it's wrong.
I just might try both pidgin and digsby...just to say I did. ;)

mileless

I started using Digsby yesterday after reading this post and it is by far the best out of the 5. However, does anyone know if it is possible to set up the AIM IM forwarding through Digsby? When you right click the AIM connction tab on your buddy list, there is a link that directs you to the IM forwarding page, but once you enter your cell number, there is no option where you can turn it on in the digsby program. Does IM forwarding in Digsby exist, or am i just not seeing it?

sweatymongoose

Digsby has a great idea by throwing social networks into the sidebar, but they really need to work on the performance issues. Trillian and Pidgin use much less memory. Furthermore, their open system for third party development might just allow for future integration with social networks.

All in all, Digsby has some cool features, but I think the others have a better shot at catching up on Digsby's differentiators than vice-versa.

jglassenberg

I'm not quite sure how Digsby is so popular when it doesn't even implement proper voice chat. Yes, it has a dinky little flash application that lags out, refuses to connect and constantly pops up telling me it can't find my camera (that I don't HAVE, you DO NOT NEED A CAMERA FOR VOICE!).

lotherius

I use Trillian Basic. I can talk to my friends without running into any huge problems (with the app, anyway; the friends are a different story :P). I don't need it to do more than that.

Amalga

I just switched to Digsby after reading some of the comments from last week's question. I have tried almost every IM client out there and Digsby is by far strides ahead of the competition. There are tons of options and best of all the social networking integration. Great IM client!!!

Idrive

What about WLM? Live Messenger happens to be one of the best.

quikboy

voted pidgin (9/10)- light, less memory usage, simple..wish they have more plugins ;)

tested:

digsby(6/10) - huge memory usage up to 100mb..other than that is good
meebo(8/10) - good but need to use a browser..
miranda(7/10) - light, good but the GUI is speechless XD..
wlm(7/10) - quite okay.. but sometimes it lags me a bit when few contacts messaging me at the same time..
ym(3/10) - It close itself suddenly many times..quit using it after few days..irritating >.<

SmallKing

@kboy007: you can use https with meebo, to avoid the netadmins reading your chats :-) [www.meebo.com]

jvleminc

@Urza: That's probably because their devels are almost always dead for support in their IRC channels, or how about their stupid website being down almost all the time? The addons portion is almost always down.

Now, _that_'s ridiculous.

Devil