Okay, I'm curious what people recommend here for IM programs. I used to use Trillian. Now I just use MSN occasionally. Looks like GAIM, now Pidgin, is a good choice. Should I just stick with the proprietary programs or start using an all-in-one again (which one do you prefer)?

I'm thinking about checking out Massassi chat but I haven't used IRC before. Again, should I look at the all-in-ones that support IRC or just use mIRC?

Stick with Trillian. Pidgin has it's own problems.

And for God's sake only use mIRC for IRC.

I use Trillian & mIRC.

mIRC seems to have only a 30 day free trial. Why are the other programs not acceptable?

It still works after 30 days - you just have to wait a few seconds for the 'reminder' window to go away.

Pidgin is the best multi-IM client for Windows and X-Chat 2 is the best IRC client. Since they both use Gtk, I recommend downloading and installing the Gtk runtime from here, then installing Pidgin and X-Chat without Gtk. This way they both use the same Gtk installation and there aren't any conflicts or problems.

pidgin + mIRC

Adium + Colloquy

I are macfag.

More like McFag AMIRITE?

you are correct sir!

I use Pidgin and mIRC. Apparently Pidgin has IRC capabilities, but I've never gotten them to work at work.

dont go to the chat it isnt very good everyone just insults and/or circlejerks each other.

Probably a very valid reason not to come to the forum either

For Windows my favorite is Miranda IM. It is a very minimalistic, feature-packed, multi-protocol client. It handles IRC chat excellently. If you close the chatroom window, it retains the channel connection, and shows you where you left off when you pull it back up. As far as IRC downloads and other traffic, you definitely want mIRC. Trillian+mIRC is my next choice.

For Linux I use Pidgin for IM and IRC chat. XChat for downloads and other IRC tasks. (Is there mIRC for Linux?) Pidgin seems like a mix of Miranda and Trillian to me in terms of features and UI.

I loves me my Trillian. And why only mIRC for IRC? Granted I very, VERY rarely venture into any IRC channels, but when I do, Trillian works just fine.

mIRC just has an easier interface and more features.

Trillian. I don't use IRC anymore.

You mean like having a non-native UI that is god awfully hideous? Oh wait...


Yeah X-Chat is plagued with secur- oh wait.

That and when I used to frequent the chat using Trillian everybody complained that my font was always blue. But Trillian's default said it was black.

Because you know, Pidgin is too! I don't think the minimal is hideous, and at least it's pretty damn fast.

Maybe that's because 95% of mIRC's "security issues" stem from scripts? And speaking of non-native UI's, X-Chat isn't completely innocent either, nor is it pretty/usable.

In closing: YAY OPINIONS!

I hate GTK, too, but since 2.8 it uses the Cairo engine to draw native widgets.


X-Chat's UI is fairly modern and surprisingly usable for an open-source application.

As a self-proclaimed UI programmer and expert I say I'm right.



Edit: Also mIRC has a ****ing pathetic scripting system if scripts are capable of compromising security. But I think we can all agree on this anyway.

Ditto. Does this mean there's now a macfagmantrain?

Ideally you're supposed to keep track of scripts and only install/run ones you trust. For the paranoid you can lock down some of the more sensitive commands ($com, $dll, /run) as well as one which doesn't make any sense, but is the only one that is on by default ($decode) and which breaks half my scripts by being off. But this is a feature tacked on as an afterthought. In fairness, mIRC's security model progression pretty much mirrors Windows'.

mIRC's scripting system is good enough and expandable enough (through DLLs) to make it extremely fun to code in (I made a Go Fish game this week) but limiting enough (no for or switch keywords, no arrays) to be annoying at times.

zzt make me a script that enters a random character in a channel of my choice ever 30 seconds.

I don't do IMs anymore, but I can vouch for Xchat 2. I had to use it because the encryption feature allows me to get past the school's IRC block, but it's fairly handy otherwise.

/me joins the macfagmantrain

though i don't use adium, i just use msn messenger to talk to those peoples