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?"

ICQ, the forgotton protocol

[jandrese]

The advantages of ICQ (over AIM) with the default clients are:
1. Offline messages. Extremely handy for a lot of things.
2. Stored History. Unbelievably useful when trying to find something someone mentioned to you 6 months ago. Grepping through the licq history has been a livesaver for me. AIM clients can of course implement it too, but a lot of them don't for some bizarre reason, or they require you to manually tell it where to store files.

AIM from the moment I was hired

[shawnmchorse]

I've always loathed real-time chat, including IRC and instant messaging. I'd rather people just e-mailed me in general, since then I can respond whenever I feel like or just ignore it. The moment I was hired at my current programming job though, I was required to set up a work specific AIM account from day one. The owners were overseas in Spain, and it turned out that AIM was their primary means of communication between Spain and the U.S. I've slacked a bit in the three years after that as far as my general loathing of it, but I still have yet to ever use instant messaging at home. The thing that's always scary to me is the sheer number of confidentail business conversations that have taken place over unencrypted AIM over the years. We've tried getting people to use GAIM with the encryption plug-in, but that's generally only used by the technical people and not the business people.

gaim

[know1]

i've heard there is a windows program that does the same,. i'm sure someone here will telly you, but i like gaim when i ever do use IM as it handles msn/im together. i should imagine google talk might be included in the next version of it or at some version in the future as they seem to be quite friendly towards OSS.
oh and the worst aspect of any instant messenger is if it pops up and steals your windows focus and you end up typing half a url into a message window or whatever. best feature is integrated email delivery notification for me. would be nice to have that for gmail as well as aol/hotmail.

None of the above, Lotus Sametime with Notes

[dominux]

yes, it isn't a consumer grade service, it is a service you have inside the corporate firewall. It was 5 years ahead of the competition 6 years ago and they haven't done much to it since, but on the plus side you can integrate it with Notes applications so every time a name appears anywhere on a form in a Notes database (expenses form, discussion database, document library etc.) it grows a little green icon you can click on to chat with the relevant person. Buddy list does not belong in a little window all by itself, IM awareness should be spread over all applications, anywhere there is a name I want to click to chat or mail, or VOIP or screenshare or webcam etc.

Re:well...

[MyDixieWrecked]

Adium is actually the BEST IM client I've ever used. Not only the best multi-protocol client, but the best client all-together.

I'd say that the features that stuck out the most when I first started using it were the tabbed IMing and the extremely compact design. Those are still a huge plus, but the newer version now has a very nice CSS-based IM styling thing and buddylist skins, IM encryption (which is compatible with my GAIM using buddies), support for nearly every IM protocol in wide-use, aliases, logging, and meta-contacts(being able to group multiple screennames into a single, virtual, buddy).

Re:Userbase

[Miros]

This is absolutely true. IMs are like the phone system. The more people on the system, the better it is for the user, because by far the strongest aspect of any IM system is how able to find your friends on it you are. This is why the instant messanger business has been historically extremely hard to penetrate (with new networks) and the dominant player (aim) shows no signs of being dislodged. I like the "my sister" test. My sister is not a techie, she doesnt work for a corporation that uses its own instant messaging system, as a result, whenever a new instant messaging network is created (most recently google talk) i ask myself "Could i get my sister to use this." The answer, like with just about every other network, was no. Of course, there is some regionality to clients. MSN is pretty big in other parts of the world. But these networks are usually separated by a language barrier (or, in the case of AIM, the 'AOL' part, which has 'America' in it) and so they essentially function as though they served completely differnt customers.

Waiting until google integrates them...

[bergeron76]

That's probably going to be the "best" integration of the technologies.

gaim for its simplicity

[Paralizer]

Gaim [sourceforge.net] takes the award in my book for ease of use and simplistic design.

I use Gaim to connect to the AOL IM servers, and I've found it surpasses the traditional AOL AIM client by far, as well as alternatives such as Trillian (bloated and graphically immense.)

The Gaim interface can be customized down to being nothing but a window with a list of user names (customizable names can be introduced for your list), and has optional buttons on the bottom of the user list for quick action. Bottom buttons can be graphics, textual, or removed entirely. This is a user list interface at its best.

The user list spawns a traditional 1-on-1 chat window with a remote client, and supports tabs allowing switching between conversations easy, as well as noting other conversation changes without needing to reference another window.

Gaim is portable, and runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows.

Gaim is modular. I have quite a few nice little plugins that do interesting tricks. For example, if I'm too busy to respond to someones IM (this is rare), there is a plugin to set your idle time. Sure it may be a little cheap, but it allows me to avoid talking to someone if I'm deep in writing code without making them feel like I'm just ignoring them if they see I've been idle for say, 20 minutes or so.

I also find Gaim's logging system efficient. The AOL IM client tends to save all logs in HTML format, including all the color tags and formatting. This seems to me to be a waste in hdd space (granted it's small, it's still annoying.) Gaim saves only the textual information, and provides a nice interface to viewing and searching logs based on the user you're searching for and the date of the conversation.

Being a developer myself I think it would be beneficial if there were some sort of drawing utility on the client, similar to a traditional chat window but with graphical point-and-draw type interface. A feature such as this would help in discussing new ideas for programs between developers, or perhaps go as far as drawing driving directions for friends.

Of course if we're talking "chat rooms" where the communication line is more than 1-to-1, IRC is always the best :) In that case I would recommend X-Chat [xchat.org].

Re:Two major ones

[benna]

Huh? GAIM is open source. If yahoo gives the protocal information to GAIM, Trillian could easily just look at GAIM's code (not copy it mind you). In practice, when yahoo does try to block Trillian, Trillian has a patch out within a day or two, and it hasn't even happened in quite a while.

Incomplete and innacurate

[ltwally]

Your comparison is both incomplete, and somewhat innacurate.

For instance, AIM is not the only IM that can send files (directly). Also, you mention encryption.. while I do not use either yahoo or msn, i can tell you that AIM has had the ability to use digital certificates to initiate RSA-2048 -> SSL encryption for years. (I use www.thawte.com's free e-mail certificate for both this and my e-mail.)

Anyhoo.. just a couple of corrections.


PS. GAIM has an encryption plugin... but it does not interpolate with AIM's encryption scheme. Why is this? Because of this, gaim encryption only works with other gaim users, instead of the entire aim community..

Re:Good protocol is useless, if

[99BottlesOfBeerInMyF]

A good protocol is useless if the people you are trying to keep in touch with aren't using it. I use AIM solely because that's what all of my friends use. Chat_Client_X might be better but if the people I need to keep in contact with aren't using it, what's the point?

By your logic the only way to switch protocols would be if all your friends did so simultaneously or if you got new friends. Thus you are locked in forever. Here's an out. Set up your own Jabber server for you and your friends and configure it to have a bridge to the protocol you are currently using. Then you can still chat with the same people over the same protocol, but you can also chat with people over Jabber and if both you and the other person are using Jabber you can have end-to-end encryption and a secure server. If enough people switch over via this method, we can all ditch these proprietary walled gardens and everyone will be able to chat with everyone using the client of their choice.

Re:Two major ones

[SirTalon42]

Actually, when Yahoo breaks their protocol to try and keep third party clients out, the Trillian people will often figure out how to get back on first and share it with the Gaim developers (the two development teams seem to be pretty good friends).

Re:well...

[xiao_haozi]

I have to tack up my affirmative nod on this one as well! I used AIM and Trillian for windows...as well as Gaim on both win and lin boxes. However, when I got a PB last may and found Adium, I have trouble using anything else. Granted, as TF says, there are benefits to each, I have found Adium to be one of the most complete packages out there. As mentioned tabbed browsing is great, with the integrated ability to jump tabs with keyboard shortcuts. The other nice feature is the ability to totally manipulate the interfaces and customize the link of the buddy list, the icon sets and menu icons, no ads, color scheme, soundsets, message boxes, etc. I know these are just visual features and don't reference what's 'under the hood', but these are the things that have tended to impress me the most with a program that I always have open and visually available on my desktop.

Whatever happened to Trepia?

[Anonymous Coward]

A few years ago, an IM client called Trepia was released (it was even featured on Slashdot). You could enter your geographical location, and it would display people in a "Buddy List" of sorts based upon how close to you they were. It was a neat way of finding local people to chat with.

It seemed to have a lot of promise, then one day it wouldn't connect to the server, and trepia.com got redirected to its author's homepage. Now the domain's been bought up by a squatter.

What ever happened to Trepia, does anyone know?

numbers are good

[gullevek]

- you could change your nick anytime
- I still remember my ICQ number :)

List of useful features

[francisew]

Useful features:

1. Cross platform (First and most important!)
   I expect the chat program to tackle at the very least windows, mac and linux.
2. Small footprint
   Way too many IM's are bloated to the point where the system is appreciably slow.
3. File transfer utility
   We all need to send a zip, or gif at some point. Though I find the 'user pictures' cute, I think they add significant bloat.
4. Accept/Decline contacts
   This is critical. If you can't keep someone off your contacts, IM spam ensues.
5. Contact notifier window
   A list of who is online & offline.
6. Low bandwidth
   Low bandwith usually results low latency, when the connection is slow.
7. Audio connection
   I'd like to be able to have a voice conversation, with text IM's.
8. Video connection
   I'd also like to be able to add a video stream.
9. Open standard, and open network
   Way too many clients lock their network, and so we have this huge network fragmentation. I don't mind if my friends want their own clients which have the nice bubbly windows and 'user photos', I just don't want to *have* to run them myself.
10. Extensibility via modular plugins.
    If someone want to play a game via their IM, then go right ahead.
11. Conferencing ability
    I'm not sure how often I would use this, but it would be very useful when I do need to use it.

Re:lol

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

I'd rather everyone have a numeric id, but not sequential. Unique id should be the hash of your public key, which is then used for verification/encryption.
You then do the rest icq style. I still don't remember my uncles icq uin, nor do I know his aim screenname, but I know if I type his name in the Find User dialog, I'd find his icq account. Long aim screennames are no easier considering aols db is merged with netscape/compuserve/a few other services by now. The number of unused old accounts wasting space is astonishing. I couldn't even register my full name as a screenname because it was already in use.

Unique numeric ids keep people from fighting over that stuff, and rarely have to actually be displayed, you just display the nick they set as the displayname. Then only show the numeric id in case of duplicate names when trying to find people. Even then you dont have to show the full digits, you can use graphical representation of the key. Forgot the name of the tech, but it looked promising when used for PKI.

Re:Hmm...

[steven_jj]

Have you tried Miranda [miranda-im.org]? Much like Trillian, but has a huge amount of plugins etc so you can customise it to your hearts content, very lightweight, generally IMHO wins slightly over Trillian.

Re:numbers are good

[Solosoft]

I managed to get lucky and my ICQ number is 26262929 (add me if you want I guess I'll talk ...) ive not really used ICQ for anything other then to idle on in years. People stopped using it back in 1998 when it got REALLY bloaty. I remember running it on my PII 350 (at the time a power machine) and it was slow as cheese. It had so many features and stuff but I guess there has to be a happy medium. The one thing I miss is the ytalk style chat where you can see as people type.

Ah the days ... giver if you want to and add me to ICQ if you wish.

What made the numbers sane on ICQ is the amazing search it used to have (which also caused alot of IM spam)

multi-client applications

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that in a day and age where many people use different protocols or applications, if you must talk to them all, get something that doesn't just do one.

I mostly switched programs when other people said "Oh man, try this, this rocks!" Or when everyone I knew and talked to were using it. One year everyone had ICQ. Then they stopped, mostly. Then they all had AIM. Then some had MSN, some had Yahoo. Now its a crapshoot, you never know what they'll have! So I gotta stay prepared.

True, you may lose some of the special features of each individual application. Maybe you lose voice chat, maybe you lose certain icons. But the convenience outweighs all that, imo. Why load up 3, 4, or more applications when you can just load up one.

If you go with a client like GAIM or Miranda, you also don't have to deal with ads, tickers, news, or any bloated feature that you could just care less about.

Miranda is my application of choice. Its windows based, and is very stable. And, like firefox, its greatly enhanced by a slew of extensions and plugins. I believe that's one of its greatest features.

You can add in extra smiley sets, extra protocols. Pretty much anything.
Its open source so you can muck around with it, if something's broke, and add to it yourself. And as its only based in windows and windows alone, its quite steady and stable (unlike gaim, which has had a tendency to crash, or atleast crash more often than miranda).

And Miranda works out of the box with everything out there, even Google/Jabber. No grabbing anything else. Its fairly often updated. And its got a small footprint. Its sleek, straightforward and has a nice interface.

http://miranda-im.org.nyud.net:8090/ [nyud.net] [Miranda-IM.ORG]

ICQ

[Paco103]

ICQ is the best protocol in my opinion - but certainly only with another client.
Direct connections
offline messaging
e-mail an ICQ message to user ([e-mail])
server routing for when direct connects fail
*per-buddy status* (always appear online to a couple of close friends, while mode goes away or busy for the rest of the world, or whatever you want to do)
changeable nick names (can be over-ridden by user if a buddy changes their name too often to keep track of)
talk from invisible mode

Re:Two major ones

[petermgreen]

yeah all the major im networks seem to have given up on blocking the multiprotocol clients now.

Re:The Meebo Alternative.

[Nevenmrgan]

I had never heard of this before. Impressive. It worked fine, except there were positioning problems with some elements (floating scrollbars 0 using latest Gecko). But overall, that's pretty damn swanky.

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

[miyako]

GAIM actually automatically translates some common netspeak into proper english. "k" is translated to "Okay", and "u" to "You" for example. Not really all that useful since it only applies to outgoing messages, but if we could get everyone to use Gaim it would probably cut down on some of that crap people try to pass off as english. Plus it has a spell checker.
Having a spell checker in my IM client is probably the single most useful feature I've ever had in any program I've ever used.

Re:The Meebo Alternative.

[data64]

I use "ssh -p 80 -D 5500 me@homemachine" and then just tell Gaim to use localhost:5500 as the proxy. This gets me through most firewall restrictions.