What Makes a Good IM Client?

thesaint05 asks: "So I was sitting here at my job where and IM is a pretty integral part of communicating intra-office. However, I have 3 different clients installed, and each has a different user base. Within the office we have an SIP server and use Windows Messenger. The Google Talk client is for colleagues and friends on the cutting edge, and AIM is used by pretty much everybody else (including a bunch of clients). So, after holding 3 different conversations simultaneously on all 3 clients (Windows Messenger with a colleague, AIM with my girlfriend, and Google Talk with a friend at a different tech company) I got to wondering, what are the strengths and weaknesses of all of these clients? Which do you use and why? If you could combine features from all of the IM clients out there, what would they be?"

Fess up

[Anonymous Coward]

This was just an excuse to use the words "my girlfriend" in a Slashdot story.

Easy.

[Sax Maniac]

Trillian for Windows, gaim on Linux. Next question?

AIM with girlfriend?

[Anonymous Coward]

I never heard the Eliza Chat Bot called "girlfriend" before.

Re:Fess up

[Anonymous Coward]

Girls, eeeeuuuuuhhhhh.....

Re:Fess up

[GetPFunky]

Once I heard the words "my girlfriend", I assumed this story was urban legend.

Re:Fess up

[Anonymous Coward]

I see this all the time. "I was trying to fix my girlfriend's laptop and..."

Usually the girl is like 500 lbs and looks like a horse, and the guy just loves to mention her over and over again.

Re:Adium, Adium, Adium

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no Adium for Windows, so what do you do if you're on that platform?

Buy a Mac? (ducks and runs)

Re:lol

[AoT]

Yeah, I never give people a contact number on a regular basis.

Re:Fess up

[That's Unpossible!]

My girlfriend thinks your comment was totally uncouth.

Re:numbers are good

[Anonymous Coward]

With MSN... it's already installed and ready to go.

careful there, tiger. Remember where you are

Honestly, I don't care about the client....

[merreborn]

It's the people on the network that keep me signing on. My family uses Yahoo, a few friends use MSN, and a few use AIM. (In the past AIM was great because you could use it to talk to AOL users for free, but these days, I don't know any)

If I want to talk to all of them, I have use all three clients. In my experience most people install IM clients for the same reason -- a friend says, "You should download [AIM/Y!M/MSN] and chat with me! My screenname is veronica696969". No one really cares how many custom smilies any given client supports -- they're mostly all Good Enough at their basic job -- rapid transport of small snippits of text.

On a completely unrelated note, the following AOL screennames are already taken:
veronica69
veronica6969
veronica696969
veronica69696969 ...Appearantly, the Veronicas of the world are a rather uncreative bunch.

Don't ask me why I know that.

Re:One feature none of them has (as far as I know)

[ratpack91]

i think you need a game of roflcopter [rofl.name]

Re:One feature none of them has (as far as I know)

[Minwee]

That must be why every time I talk about electronic components the resistors are always measured in "Okay Ohms" and the capacitors in "You Farads".

Re:numbers are good

[AnthonyZEO]

Unbelievable!

You are the first person I have ever seen that has a higher ICQ number than me! Yes! I joined before someone else! I'm not the last ICQ user ever!!! 18228324 IN YOUR FACE!!!