Chat clients?

[jgbishop]

What other chat clients are out there that support AIM? I've tried the following (in Windows):

* Gaim - Development on this is pi**-poor. The Windows port lacks features and it looks like crap.
* Trillian - Version 3 is bloated, slow, and comes with idiotic features turned on.
* AIM Client - Developed by AOL. Nuff said.

What others are out there? Is this it? Chat clients as a whole just suck - I want something decent! :|

 

[Modeps]

There are about 4000 threads on IM programs. Search and you shall recieve. The only one really missing from your list is Miranda.

PS: I really like Gaim for windows, it works great and is not bloated. What is it lacking that you need?

 

[madthumbs]

Using Trillian 2.013 with calendar and weather plugins. Uses half the memory that Gaim uses even with plug-ins.

If 3 is so bloated, why not use 2.013?

 

[ts3433]

I like Gaim too...

I believe Miranda is another one. I tried it, but I prefer Gaim's interface, and it's plenty feature-rich for me.

 

[BlueWeasel]

I've always been a fan of Miranda, as I'm not a die hard IM user and it works fine for me.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: madthumbs
Using Trillian 2.013 with calendar and weather plugins. Uses half the memory that Gaim uses even with plug-ins.

If 3 is so bloated, why not use 2.013?

Because 3 comes in Basic and Pro, 2 is Pro only... (are they offering older Pro version for free now?)

I fail to see how Trillian is "bloated", I guess the OP means how Trillian is built to handle several different services. But I don't see how that makes it bloated, with version 3 you can always choose not to install the MSN, Yahoo, and IRC plugins, and when running minimized it only consumes 3K of memory for me (5-6K when I bring up the buddy list and it hard for me to even top the 20-22K memory usage of AIM with deadaim installed) even when chatting in multiple tabbed windows across MSN, ICQ/AIM and IRC.... The default skin is also one of the cleanest looking interfaces I've worked with, and decent looking as well. You can also mess around with it to get it to look the way you want it to.

 

[Schadenfroh]

another vote for miranda

 

[Zugzwang152]

using gaim here. works fine for me, i don't IM much anymore anyway. previously a trillian 0.7x user.

 

[duragezic]

Miranda rocks. After finally giving up on ICQ98a (I think they blocked users from connecting with such old versions) a couple of years ago, I've been a diehard Miranda fan since. My Miranda is only using ~1MB right now and I have a ton of plugins. I like how you can completely remove everything from the list so it's only a list that is as long as your online buddies, no fvcking buddy icons or some crap menus. You can then doubleclick to shade it like I've seen Trillian do, but I have it Always on Top but set to a barely visible transparency when it is not focused (becomes focused when I move the mouse over). The plugins I use are an improved history viewer, popup interoperability, lastSeen, WhoIsReadingMyStatusMessage, newStatusNotify, send/recieve contacts, and floating contacts. The latter two may be included these days, I can't remember.

 

[Blayze]

I hardly use IMs anymore, but when I do I use Trillian 3 Basic.

 

[naruto1988]

i use aimutation. works quite well for AIM if u know what u're doing.