Which is the best Multi-Protocol All in One IM Client?

**Rudra.J** · 07-10-2009

Which is the best Multi-Protocol All in One IM Client? There are so many IM clents which support all in one [multiprotocol] feature. In these clients you can configure accounts for all the IM services and log into all the services simultaneously. Which one is the best according to you?

**Rudra.J** · 07-10-2009

Digsby is a proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application developed by dotSyntax, LLC. Digsby is written in wxPython and uses WebKit for rendering. It supports most mainstream IM protocols such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, ICQ, XMPP, and Facebook Chat. Digsby also supports e-mail notifications and alerts from MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Pidgin formerly named Gaim is a multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple. Libpurple has support for many commonly used instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to log into various different services from one application. The number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over 3 million in 2007. Both Pidgin and libpurple are free software, released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

**Rudra.J** · 07-10-2009

Adium is a popular free instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple IM networks, including MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ and XMPP. It supports many protocols through the libraries libezv (for Bonjour), MGTwitterEngine (for Twitter), and libpurple (for all other protocols). It is written using Mac OS X's Cocoa API, and it is released under the GNU General Public License, and many other licenses for components that are distributed with Adium. Beginning with the 1.4 beta release, Adium will not work in Mac OS X Tiger.

iChat formerly iChat AV is an instant messaging software application by Apple Inc. for their Mac OS X operating system. It has audio, video and screen-sharing capabilities as well as text messaging. iChat can serve as a client for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MobileMe, ICQ and XMPP. It uses a XMPP-like protocol and Bonjour for user discovery and it also allows for LAN communication. iChat's AIM support is fully endorsed by AOL, and uses their official implementation of the AIM OSCAR protocol. Using a XMPP transport, iChat users may also integrate their MSN, Yahoo! and Google Talk contacts into the XMPP pane. iChat bears Apple's Aqua interface and uses speech bubbles and pictures to personify the online chatting experience. With iChat, green (available), yellow (idle), and red (away) dots can be seen next to the name of each connected user on the buddy list. To cater for color-blind users, this can be altered to show different shapes to illustrate status rather than color.

**Rudra.J** · 07-10-2009

Trillian is a proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM services, such as AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, XMPP, and Skype networks (the latter four with Trillian Pro which allows for additional plugins, which will change with Astra where plugins will be included in Basic). Initially released July 1, 2000, as a freeware IRC client, the first commercial version (Trillian Pro 1.0) was published on September 10, 2002. The program was named after Trillian, a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Meebo is an Ajax-based in-browser instant messaging program which supports multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, .NET Messenger Service, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat and XMPP; it is based on the free and open source library libpurple created by the software developers of Pidgin. Meebo also developed a version of Meebo for use on the iPhone (native application has also been announced) and a native application that runs on Android mobile phones. Meebo was founded in September 2005 by Sandy Jen, Seth Sternberg and Elaine Wherry, and is based in Mountain View, California. Meebo received funding from Sequoia Capital on December 15, 2005. Meebo includes features such as invisible sign on (to prevent others from knowing when a user connects) and simultaneous connections to multiple IM services.