Instant Messaging (IM) has become an integral part of almost everybody who uses the Internet. IM evolved from Internet Relay Chat (IRC), and provides an easy platform for instantly communicating with other people in realtime without having to rely on an external server, or easily engage in private chat.
Of course, IM relies on servers to do its work. Luckily, several Internet companies like Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL, and many others provide IM clients and servers for your convenience. You will just have to create an account, download their client, and start chatting.
However, there is always a chance that you will have a friend who uses a different IM client. Perhaps your crush is using MSN and you have AOL, and you know that communication with him/her is essential for your progress with your relations with that person. You can sign up for MSN and download its client, but having another IM client stand alongside your own takes up precious memory space that could have been used for something else.
This is where multi-platform IM clients come in. Multi-platform IM clients are IM applications that allow not only one, but multiple IM accounts for you to use. You can use AOL, Yahoo, MSN, Skype, and any other IM server in just one application.
Here are two examples of excellent IM clients, and how they compare to each other.
Miranda im
Miranda IM is a lightweight, open source instant messaging platform. It is very simple to use, and will not interrupt from your workflow, since it does not take up a slot on your taskbar. It only appears as a notification icon. It is also highly customizable – with skins, sounds, plugins, scripts – anything to your heart’s content. And if you got the skills, you can download the source and take a peek under the hood, and maybe tweak a little stuff while you’re at it.
Pros
- Very, very lightweight
- Open source
- Extremely customizable
- Supports many messaging platforms and IRC
Cons
- Does not show up in the taskbar – can be hard to adjust to
- Can be confusing for non-power users
- You will have to customize it well to suit your needs
Trillian
Trillian is a proprietary multi-platform IM client. Unlike Miranda, it is not open source, and your rights to the software is quite similar to that of Yahoo and Live Messenger. However, it is a step up from the aforementioned two, as Trillian can support plenty of IM clients, and includes Twitter and Facebook.
Trillian, unlike Miranda IM, is also available in other platforms, such as Mac, the iPhone and Blackberry phones. A “Pro” edition is also available for Windows for a price.
Pros
- Powerful and intuitive
- Easy-to-navigate interface
- Includes Twitter and Facebook support
Cons
- Not very lightweight unlike Miranda IM
- Proprietary software
- Requires a Trillian account
Pidgin
Pidgin is an open source IM client that supports plenty of chat networks. It is originally a project for Linux, but has been ported to Windows for the convenience of the non-Linux savvy computer users. Like Miranda, it is lightweight, open source, and has many different plugins to improve its usability.
Pros
- Open source
- Supports Linux and its distros
- Easy to use
- Can connect to Facebook and Twitter
- Has plenty of plugins
Cons
- Not really that lightweight in Windows
- Not as customizable as Miranda IM
Multi-platform IM clients are very useful if you want to keep up with your friends, co-workers, and family who use a different network other than yours. However, one noter about MPIMs: most of the time, they do not support some proprietary features of the default chat network clients, such as video conferencing, VoIP calling, and playing games. But if you don’t really need those features and would just like to simply keep in touch with your people, multi-platform IM clients are for you.
