Quick look at All-in-one IMs
December 5th, 2006 (2:00pm) Chris Gilmer 29 Comments
There are so many Instant Messaging services to choose from. It seems like all your contacts are always split between at least four of them – AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft and lately Google. Add Skype and Gizmo, and ICQ, well, it is going to be one big mess.
So the next best option is to use an aggregator like Trillian or Adium ? Not only will it save time, but it will also free up some valuable desktop space and might even make your day slightly more productive.
Trillian is a universal instant messenger for PC’s that brings all of your account contacts together in one simple, powerful application. The current build of Trillian supports the aggregation of AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and IRC IM applications. (Google Talk will work with the pro version, but only after you have done some fiddling around and install a Jabber plug)
Trillian supports the standard features offered in these applications like audio chat, file transfers, group chats, and icons, but adds in message history and tabbed messaging. Word is that this new build of the popular Trillian called Astra will include faster chatting capabilities, more efficient network connections, and decreased memory usage. This is going to be a great new build, so stay tuned for the release of this strong new version that is currently in Alpha phase.
A hot aggregation client for Mac users is Adium. Adium supports the aggregation of AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo, ICQ, iChat, and Google Talk services. Like all Mac applications, the interface is pretty. So needless to say, Adium has a lot of beautiful extras that are available, including emoticons, dock icons, contact list styles, sound sets, and message styles. There are a lot of drag and dropfunctionality, as well as tabbed messaging features.
What about online? Sometimes its easier if you work on multiple computers or locations to use an instant messaging application that can be accessed from within browsers. There are a few web based aggregators out there like Meebo and eBuddy that you might want to check out. They both have packed in the ability to tie in to the most popular IM accounts like AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and MSN. eBuddy has its drawbacks as it doesn’t have Jabber support, so no Google Talk. Then there are the annoying ads. But hey, got to pay the bills somehow. Personally, I enjoy using Meebo because of the clean easy to use interface, and the fact that it ties into my main modes of IM communications.
However, nothing beats the standalone application as far as features. Standalone IM applications are the most feature packed powerful solutions out there. Obviously, since they were built with those intentions in mind. They do have their drawbacks, and can be beat out by both web based and aggregation IM tools. What it all comes down to are your preferences and requirements.
If you’re not up for Trillian, Adium, Meebo, or eBuddy there are a few more out there that you might want to check out to find the one that best suits your needs. However, with all the online, offline, and aggregating Instant Messaging applications out there, its sometimes hard to keep track of the ones that can be utilized over the web, and on mobile devices. Here is a little list to help you keep the facts straight, and decide which ones to use:
Standalone Applications:
- Google Talk
- Yahoo Instant Messenger
- AIM
- ICQ
- MSN Live Messenger
- iChat
- Skype
- Jabber
- Wablet
Web based:
- Google Talk
- Meebo
- Meebo Me
- eBuddy
Mobile:
- Yahoo Instant Messenger
- Google Talk
- AIM
Aggregators:
- Trillian
- Adium
- Miranda
- Proteus
- Gaim
If anyone knows of any mobile instant messaging aggregators out there, drop a comment with your thoughts on it!
29 Comments Post your own comment
GigaOM » What’s On GigaOM Network says: December 5th, 2006 2:02pm
[...] An overview of the all-in-one IM clients [...]
monal valia says: December 5th, 2006 2:05pm
agile messenger is an all in one app for WM5 mobiles, works fairly well
Kat says: December 5th, 2006 2:17pm
It took me a while to get used to Trillian but once you are used to it, it’s a lot easier than jumping from window to window. eBuddy’s good when you’re not at home but need access to a messenger.
Nathan says: December 5th, 2006 3:29pm
Psi is also a good alternative. Maybe not as complete in terms of features as Trillian. Highly customizable though…
Corey says: December 5th, 2006 3:52pm
i’ve been using trillian for years, but am now at a day job (yikes!) that won’t let me install it. so i not-so-covertly use meebo.com. color me impressed. it’s had a few minor bugs, but for the most part it works well and easily.
Chris Williams says: December 5th, 2006 3:57pm
I’ve been using Miranda for a while now. It’s phenomenal. I could write an entire article on using it for IM alone. I even enable its IRC service for group chats with web developers (I’m a copywriter).
Great blog! Keep up the excellent work.
jedweb says: December 5th, 2006 4:13pm
I use Gaim Portable on my USB drive. Very handy and customizable without all the bloat.
Evan Wired says: December 5th, 2006 9:15pm
Don’t forget Fire for the Mac: http://fire.sourceforge.net/
* AIM®
* ICQ®
* irc
* Jabber® (including Google® Talk and Apple® iChat Server)
* MSN®
* Yahoo! Messenger®
* Apple Bonjour® (aka Rendezvous)
dave says: December 5th, 2006 9:43pm
dude you forgot about SNIMMER – this is the one that actually works in a browser and lets people on AIM talk to people on MSN or whatever else with only one single account…if it works, it will put the others in the ground…
Sal Cangeloso says: December 5th, 2006 9:43pm
I would highly recommend GAIM to anyone that seems AIM as a necessary evil and wants security, the ability to customize, and lots of features. Others, like Trillian are not bad, but GAIM has the best mix of form and function, IMO.
I also use MiniAIM sometimes, but this is too stripped down for day-to-day use.
IMs in Our Lives « My Life With IT says: December 6th, 2006 12:57am
[...] It’s also interesting to note that with the spurt of users going on instant messaging, companies start to ride on this wave to get their products noticed. Good way to advertise, right? Users use Yahoo! Messenger, MSN, web-based messaging (when their companies don’t advocate such practices at work, reason being, you’re supposed to be working, right?), too many for me to know but here’s a quick overview. Can faint, right? There’s even quite a number of all-in-one IMs to choose from. Not sure if I’ll ever need them but they can be handy in future. [...]
epyks says: December 6th, 2006 3:50am
Wengo is also a good opensource initiative, it’s an all in one application aggregating IM (Yahoo!/MSN/AIM/ICQ/Jabber) as well as VoIP (SIP) ; audio interoperability with MSN is under way and integration of Skype is planned early january. Windows release is now stable, Mac & Linux need some more work.
Bart Mroz says: December 6th, 2006 6:40am
http://www.agilemobile.com/agile_messenger.html
Agile Messenger works great.
Amish says: December 6th, 2006 7:40am
strange that nothing about gaim is mentioned
(except name)
http://gaim.sf.net
elsua: The Knowledge Management Blog says: December 6th, 2006 10:58am
Quick Look at All-in-One IMs – And where Lotus Sametime 7.5 Chimes in
Here is a weblog post to celebrate how much closer we are to the solution of one of the growing pains from Instant Messaging all along: Interoperability. Yes, this is a weblog post to celebrate that we are not that far from that unified IM client that …
neunetz.com » Instant Messaging- Artikel mit Überblick über Clients says: December 6th, 2006 11:46am
[...] findet man auf webworkerdaily, wenn das Ganze auch etwas tiefer hätte gehen können. Im Grunde wird nur Trillian als Allinone-Client näher vorgestellt. Im Folgenden ein kleiner Überblick über Instant-Messaging-Clients für den PC und webbasierte Alternativen: [...]
marcel weiß says: December 6th, 2006 11:50am
If you want to get some work done instead having to tweak your im-client regularly I suggest to not use miranda. miranda is powerful but with it’s need of douzens of plugins it can become pretty timeconsuming to keep it working.
gaim on pc is fine.
comartslibrarian says: December 6th, 2006 11:56am
Gaim supports Jabber/Google Talk protocols, without spending $25 on a “Pro” version of Trillian. Trillian (Basic or Pro) does have the better interface compared to GAIM, IMHO. Our library just started an IM reference service using Trillian to monitor the Big 4 services.
coreyclaytonlnp says: December 6th, 2006 12:42pm
Love the upcoming Trillian Astra (v4.0) … did a preview at http://www.harddrivelife.com a while back. But I use GAIM mostly at the office.
YDS says: December 6th, 2006 12:47pm
My IM wish is for an aggregator that supports video chat. I use Trillian at work, and find it just fine for all my non-google chat needs, but at home, where I have a webcam and want to be able to videochat with distant relatives who want to see the baby once in a while, I have to run skype, messenger, etc. etc. in order to connect with everyone.
lnxwalt says: December 6th, 2006 3:22pm
I use GAIM in preference to Trillian. GAIM seems to work a little faster than Trillian. GAIM is also usable if you’re using a non-Windows computer (I use it with my Linux desktops, for example) and it works with Google Talk. They are generally a little faster to update whenever one of the services decides to block unofficial clients.
Another good all-around client (for Linux desktops) is Kopete. Kopete seems to work around the occasional blockages even faster than GAIM does.
PSI is a good Jabber client, as is Spark. We use Jabber internally, so a Jabber client really matters.
Chris Coyier says: December 6th, 2006 3:24pm
I’m been using Adium for about three weeks now and I’m really loving it. It’s really everything instant messaging software should be. Super easy to use, feature rich, awesome customizable interface. I was starting to despise iChat so I’m glad I found it.
As a web worker, you should really be as easy to communicate with as possible, so with a program like Adium, you can have screen names on all of the popular IM services without having to run a bunch of different software… sweet.
Sai says: December 6th, 2006 6:15pm
I’ve been using Gtalk for quite sometime now and I’m very much contented. It doesn’t have a sleek interface but it primarily suites most of my needs. But Adium looks nice too, I’ll be trying it out next time around. I remember I was about to use MeeboMe on my site, until I found it a little too fancy.
dylanhudson says: December 7th, 2006 4:56am
iChat can work great as an aggregator.
strategicalliance says: December 7th, 2006 5:57am
great post, im a trillian fan myself…thanks again
Ross Hill says: December 10th, 2006 5:33pm
Adium is an awesome backend, but you need the Renkoo Naked message windows and the Proteus soundset to make it kickass :)
Joshua Kaufman says: December 14th, 2006 11:05am
Proteus is still a fine application; don’t be put off by its under construction site. It’s just a shame the developers are struggling so much with it lately.
Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive You Might be a Web Worker if... « says: April 16th, 2007 5:44am
[...] You are searching for the one true IM client that will allow you to interact with all your IM buddies in one place, no matter what network [...]
pristina.org | everything design » links for 2007-04-17 says: April 16th, 2007 7:44pm
[...] Web Worker Daily » Blog Archive Quick look at All-in-one IMs « (tags: IM online client) [...]