Control All Your Instant Messenger Services in One Account
15 Comments By Tal Siach on December 27th, 2007 in Software and Add-ons
How many different Instant Messaging accounts do you have? Would it be a little bit more convenient to control most of them in one account? With Pidgin it can easily be done and for free!
I use so many different Instant Messenger software. I have gathered a lot of friends that use the different available messengers, so I ended up becoming a member of MSN Live, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) , Google’s Gtalk, Skype, and also Yahoo Messenger.
IM has had a big effect on my life since it’s an important tool for me to stay in touch with family members, friends, fellow bloggers and other acquaintances from around the world. This has become a necessity and therefor I have become dependent on it. This also means that at any given moment, I have a lot of IM windows opened. I keep moving from one IM window to another throughout the day, and that never seemed very convenient. Moreover, running each messenger software takes its toll on my CPU memory and slows my Internet connection all the time.
A friend of mine from NY, Jordan, has recently introduced me to this great software called Pidgin. The concept immediately enlightened me. Pidgin is a free instant messaging program for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes which grants you the ability to combine many of your messenger applications in one place.
Imagine having your messenger accounts in one window, so all your friends are in one place to look at and talk to. Now you can, since Pidgin works with a wide range of IM accounts, such as: AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Gtalk, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM and a lot more!
Instead of having a number of windows in your taskbar, you have one window that allows you to speak on the different programs. This means that while you chat with one friend on Gtalk, you can talk to your coworker on MSN Live, and other people with the different programs you have an account with. The Pidgin software also logs you in to the different accounts simultaneously, so one login does the trick.
As soon as I started using Pidgin, I have noticed that my productivity went up: my computer is not as bogged down, the Internet runs faster, and I can talk to all my friends and contacts in one place. I must admit that this is one program that truly helps me on a daily basis. It makes my messenger use a whole lot better.
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Related Tags: control instant messenger, instant messengers, many messengers, multi messenger account, pidgin messenger
December 27th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Cool little tool there. Will definitely have to check this one out as I couldn’t be bothered to run all the different IM clients so just stick to Skype and MSN at the moment.
Means I’d be able to contact those who only use Yahoo/AIM/Gtalk etc.
Nice one!
December 28th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Finally, a tool that includes Skype and Google Talk into the mix of other IM clients. I’ve been using Trillian for the longest time and am happy with it, but it doesn’t offer support for other types of clients.
It’s like you read my mind with this one. Thanks!
December 28th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Instant Messenger is kind of 2006. Your gmail is always open, so why bother with im if u can use the gtalk? ah?
December 28th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Been using Pidgin for several years now… used to be called Gaim… found it randomly when trying to find programs that allowed me to connect to all of my instant message protocols… nice program, glad you found it!
December 28th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Yup, been using pidgin (formerly gaim, they changed it due to legal issues) for a while now. A lot of people recommend trillian, but I’ve always found pidgin to be easier and better overall.
December 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
This kind of thing isn’t new.
I used to use Adium, which is a desktop client. And more recently, I used Meebo, which is a web client.
Now I don’t use either — I just use Skype, that’s the only IM client I need…
December 28th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Hi Everyone, thank you for your comments.
@David: Let us know if you found it a lot more productive.
@Jerad: I am glad that you found this useful. Currently a plug-in for the Skype is available, and skype needs to be running in the background. I hope that they will integrate it soon within the program.
@Joe: Gtalk is definitely used by so many people already, but in the meanwhile, you are able to talk to those that haven’t caught on yet
@Wayne: I have heard about Meebo but haven’t tried it yet. In the meantime, Pidgin really help me stay in touch with all those that would rather use MSN and Yahoo.
January 7th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Brosix provides you your OWN network and encription of file transfer, chat, voice and all its features
January 7th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Hi Gt, thank you for sharing. I will check Brosix out.
January 13th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I was searching to redownload, and try again, Tillian, when I came across your post. I’m going to try it. I’ve checked out a lot of other posts and have added you to my Google Reader. Thanks!
January 13th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Been using this since my lsat post and my friends say they are getting my IMs doubled to them ….
May 7th, 2009 at 10:23 am
I just recently tested it and one if its error is that the recipient cant see my sent messages. Totally annoying
May 7th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
@Jo @Catherine I Think its a bug or something, for me its working great for more then a year , try to look for the latest version i bet it will fix that. sorry to hear you don’t like it , you can always try meeboo too, Although I am a pidgin fan
September 15th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Hmm..just wanna say its working fine now to me.. back to being a pidgin fan
October 24th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
agree. Pidgin is my favorite messenger too, more feature. Nice posting. Thank’s ^_^