According to the Pidgin website:

“Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all of your IM accounts at once.”

Overtime I’ve somehow managed to accumulate accounts for a variety of instant messaging services, including MSN, Google Talk, AIM, and Yahoo! Messenger.

I spent quite some time trying to use all of them, but eventually came to the conclusion that forcing my machine to load five different messaging programs every time I started up the machine was a complete waste of processing resources. As a result I stopped using most of them. In some cases I managed to convince some of my contacts to switch to a new IM client; but that hasn’t been the case with all of them unfortunately.

Then when I started using Ubuntu I discovered Pidgin, which is installed in the distribution by default. Pidgin enables you to log in to multiple instant messaging networks from a single program. This not only saves you space in your system tray but reduces the overall demands on the system.

According to the website Pidgin works with:

• AIM
• Bonjour
• Gadu-Gadu
• Google Talk
• Groupwise
• ICQ

• IRC
• MSN
• MySpaceIM
• QQ
• SILC

• SIMPLE
• Sametime
• XMPP
• Yahoo!
• Zephyr

Furthermore, unlike some of the other multi-protocol IM clients I’ve used, Pidgin will even notify you of new email messages sent to the different accounts. For example I am informed of new Gmail messages, given a brief summary of what the message is, who it’s from, and then provided with the option to login to Gmail in my default browser to read the full message.

The one thing I don’t think Pidgin does is facilitate VOIP communication. As a result I now load two IM clients when starting up my machine: Pidgin and Skype. My system tray is blessedly empty and yet I’m able to communicate with more people than I could before. Brilliant.

The installation process is quite straight forward. Just go to http://www.pidgin.im/, download the set-up files for your operating system and then run them locally. You are also given the option to install some additional features – such as a spell checker. Just click through the wizard process and the bulk of the work is done for you.

Once that’s done it’s just a matter of adding an account for each instant messaging service you want to link to. In my case I have three accounts in Pidgin – MSN, Google Talk and AIM. Then when you start up Pidgin, you are logged into each service and all of your contacts are displayed in the single buddylist panel.

Note if you want to take advantage of the email notifications you need to activate this option. This is done in the account settings area (open Accounts, highlight account in the list and click Modify, then in the User Options click “New Mail Notifications”). Notifications then appear at the very top of the chat window.

Like all open source software, Pidgin can be heavily customisable if you know what you’re doing. I’ve only just begun to experiment with the application, but rest assured I will be tinkering to see what else it can do.

For the Mac users, unfortunately Pidgin doesn’t exist for the Mac platform; however Adium is just as good and is very similar in appearance and functionality.  This can be downloaded at http://www.adiumx.com/

References:

• Pidgin – http://www.pidgin.im/
• Adium – http://www.adiumx.com/ – Multi-Protocol Instant Messaging client for Mac OSX

“A new Google Talk feature called Chatback lets you put up a widget on your website which lets visitors send messages directly to your Google Talk account. Your visitors, however, don’t need a Google talk account; they can simply start writing messages directly into the widget. The chat opens up in a new window, so visitors can leave the actual site and keep chatting.”

Mashable’s statement that the new Google Talk feature “lets visitors send messages directly to your Google Talk account” is not completely accurate.  The only role that the locally installed client plays in the equation is to provide your status update to the widget.

When a guest actually sends you a chat invite you are sent the URL to a web instance of Google Talk and must participate there via a browser.  You can’t do it from within the desktop client.

I’m completely unimpressed with Google Talk these days. What began as a promising uncluttered minimalist foray into instant messaging has quickly been relegated to the role of poorer cousin to Gmail Talk and the web-based GTalk.

Personally, I have no interest in online chat tools like Meebo and Gmail Tallk because I don’t like having the sessions tied to a browser.  Desktop clients circumvent these requirements through the installation of software.  You’re then able to remain logged in to the account without having a dedicated browser open and eating up your RAM.

Unfortunately, all developments in Google’s IM presence for months have been funnelled into their online web chat tools, with none of the same changes passed along to the client you install on your desktop.  The new emoticons aren’t there; the invisible status setting isn’t there; the group chat option isn’t there.  I used to think the changes were coming; now I think Google has written off the application completely but hasn’t bothered to tell users.

With online video, audio, and text chat, file transfer, and other tools so prevalent in other desktop IM clients like Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and MSN messenger, so few people actually using Google Talk relatively speaking, and a complete vacuum of innovation on their Desktop Client I fail to see any reasons for using Google Talk anymore.

References:

• “Google Talk Turns Into a Chat Widget“, Mashable, 27 February 2008
• “Google Talk Adds a Chatback Widget“, TechCrunch, 27 February 2008
• “Google Talk’s new chatback badge: is there a privacy issue here?” ZDNet Blogs, 26 February 2008

“Group chat has finally found its way to gmail’s instant messaging system. So right there while you have your email inbox open, you can chat with multiple people at one time. Start a group chat by clicking on the Options link at the bottom of a conversation window. You’ll now see “Group Chat” as a new option. Once that’s selected, just type in the name of the person you’d like to add to your current conversation. If you don’t see the group chat option yet, try signing out and logging back into your Gmail account.”

I’m particularly interested in using the group chat function that was launched at the tail end of last month, but unfortunately I don’t have enough contacts who use Google Talk to necessitate a group chat. Nonetheless it is – or at least was – one of my preferred IM clients.

I find both MSN and Yahoo! messenger to be so plagued by ads and blinking lights that it’s just too much to deal with. So I’ve stopped using MSN as of a year or so ago, and Yahoo! messenger several years before that. I’m fond of Google Talk’s stripped down minimalistic sensibilities, and very straightforward interface.

In the same breath though I have to say I’m irritated by the fact the web-based version of Google Talk is being given far more preferential treatment over the version you install locally. Google Talk has been fairly low on the radar for quite some time now – perhaps due to the relatively minimal uptake by users as compared to other Google products – and yet we still continue to see more innovation and feature releases with the web client.

It begs the question: Why not add the same new features to both?

They’ve taken what was an already excellent IM video chat program and turned it into a web conferencing tool that is on par with any of the major server side software programs out there – including Adobe Connect (formerly Macromedia Breeze). The options to share desktops, files and videos are absolutely stunning, and in typical Apple fashion they’ve done it with both style and usability as well.

The main issue will be its capacity to operate cross platform, or cross version with previous incarnations of OSX. If the bulk of iChat’s functionality is restricted to the Leopard platform – as it has historically been with Tiger – it will pose a substantial barrier for uptake.

Like it or not, Microsoft still dominates the personal computer realm. Mac is definitely catching up; but even so you’re talking about a brand new operating system as well. So users running Tiger will only be able to do so much with iChat as well.

The other consideration is bandwidth. This is an issue for any type of web conferencing as sharing documents and desktops in particular require a substantial amount of grunt under the bonnet of your web connection. However in the case of the previous version of iChat for example, their compression was high enough that it could accommodate most high-speed web connections – be they home or office – and importantly the video quality was not compromised in the process.

There is a lot to like about the Leopard and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy for a test run, and yet my interest in the iChat web conferencing functionality is paramount. I’m seriously impressed with what they’ve done there.

More information on Mac OSX 10.5 “Leopard” here.

Now here’s a feature I’m looking forward to seeing launch: AIM – Google Talk interoperability. Via TechCrunch, screenshots of development versions have surfaced on blog, Google Operating System.

Based on the screen grab depicted by TechCrunch you’ll be able to chat within Gmail just as you currently can with Google Talk. What remains to be seen is whether they’ll roll this option into the IM client, which is not always a sure thing.

Features such as group chat for example, while available in the web interface version of Google Talk, is NOT yet available in the IM client.

Stay tuned as more details are inevitably leaked.