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Which Instant Messenger?

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20:54 / 12.08.03

I've got an odd feeling of deja-vu about this particular question, so apologies if I've asked before and simply forgotten the collected wisdom of Barbelith's net-heads.

I'm thinking of downloading an instant messaging system. I've had slightly mixed experiences with these in the past, having twice got pissed off with unsolicited 'wanna chat's (even, I think, when I was supposedly invisible) and ended up uninstalling 'em.

Bearing this in mind, which is the system for me?

21:44 / 12.08.03

Trillian is the best Windows client. It supports all the networks at once. Don't bother with the individual network clients, except as backup.

The highest proportion of wankers are on AIM. Second in the wanker stakes is MSN. The trouble is, the more popular the medium, the more tossers there are on it. The best thing is to not feel guilty about ignoring someone completely, or blocking them.

The Apple-Picker

21:46 / 12.08.03

One of my friends uses Trillian, which is supposed to cover all those suckers--MSN messenger, AOL instant messenger, whatever else is out there.

I've been using AOL IM more frequently lately, but you're probably guaranteed to get unsolicited wanna chats with that service--along with lots of unknown dweebos who want to have cyber sex with you. I've just been using this one more frequently 'cause most of the people I chat with use that service.

It took me a long time to actually start using MSN messenger, but one of my friends convinced me to do it. Despite the fact that I've not buddied up with hardly anyone on that service, at least I never get unsolicited "What do you look like"s with it.

22:14 / 12.08.03

I use Trillian. It's ginchy. You can easily prevent solicitations from fourteen year old poor spellers and on-again, off-again stalkers by accepting IMs only from those on your contact/buddy/etc. list.

23:02 / 12.08.03

And if you're on a Mac, there's an OSX-friendly app called Fire which acts as the Trillian stand-in for the Apple folks.

The only problem with Trillian in the past was that AOL wasn't too keen on other apps infringing on their protocols. They'd rejigger the AIM communications to lock out Trillian clients, which just meant that you'd have to download the most recent version of Trillian with the work-around. This all may be in the past, however. The version I've had for a while hasn't had any problems.

As others have said, there's really no reason to use anything else.

23:37 / 12.08.03

Fire is the one that I use most of the time.

For maximum smallness, use a Jabber client like Psi.

00:34 / 13.08.03

Don't forget to let us know the username(s) for whatever service(s) you subscribe to.

04:51 / 13.08.03

Download Trillian, then you can use whichever chat service you like and then change your mind and use another.

AIM has more wankers and every other sort of person because it has more members. It's ubiquity makes it preferable to every other system simply because you're more likely to have friends who already use it. Years ago, most of my "real-life" friends were on ICQ, so I used ICQ. Now I seem to have more friends and family using AIM, so I am more likely to use AIM.

06:27 / 13.08.03

I'll go along with everyone else and say that Trillian is the best Windows client. Gaim is pretty good if you use Linux, and the Windows version works OK, too, although it's not a patch on the aforementioned Trillian.

Tryphena Absent

08:41 / 13.08.03

I use AIM and MSN because I know different people who use both. I did use ICQ a long time ago and I seem to recall a brief couple of months on Yahoo Messenger but that really did get taken over by tossers.

Trillian does sound like a good idea but it also sounds like you can only be on one thing at a time? I tend to have simultaneous conversations on AIM and MSN so it might not be the thing for me.

08:48 / 13.08.03

I just always go with AIM, myself.

08:48 / 13.08.03

Yes, me too Anna (de L). I have one group of friends on ICQ, others on AIM, so I tend to have both open. I use AIM for work, so I'm pretty much on that all the time. I start to forget how to talk to people face to face, sitting here typing into wee boxes.

08:49 / 13.08.03

Hello Cherry B! I'd talk to you face to face but I prefer boxes.

09:07 / 13.08.03

Anna (de L): Trillian (and, indeed, Gaim and Miranda) allows you to connect to all the services you use simultaneously, so conversations on AIM and MSN wouldn't be a problem.

Tryphena Absent

09:39 / 13.08.03

Ooh, I'm going to have a technical time tonight!

10:04 / 13.08.03

Ooh, I'm going to have a technical time tonight!

Sounds like code for something much more exciting that installing an IM client. Ooerr, missus!

And now, having exposed exactly how my mind works, I shall move on...

*

14:26 / 13.08.03

Video, thanks for the Fire alarm. I checked it out, downloaded it, and I like it muchly.

20:52 / 04.10.03

Put this off, forgot about it, and only just remembered. I've been having a look around Trillian's FAQ and am having my usual baffled 'trees for the wood' problems where my own queries are concerned. I'm hoping someone who uses Trillian can help me with these:

1) I see that one can organise one's contacts into separate address books (so I could have 'Family' in one, 'Barbelith' in another, 'Kinky Pervo Sex Stuff' in a third, and so on) but is one limited to a single screen name? I mean, can I operate under the name my mother gave me, 'Ganesh' and 'MrFuckTrousers'?

2) When I go online, will those on my buddy list(s) automatically know about it, or would I have to log in to Trillian first? And is there any way of splitting off the various address books - to prevent my mother, say, messaging me when I'm discussing 'Hot Leather Fistdaddies IV' with ManHole?

3) Does Trillian actually join all those disparate messaging systems (AIM, MSN, ICQ, etc.) on my behalf? I can't quite get my head around how it works...

20:53 / 04.10.03

Oh yeah, and

4) Which is the coolest 'skin'?

21:25 / 04.10.03

1) I see that one can organise one's contacts into separate address books (so I could have 'Family' in one, 'Barbelith' in another, 'Kinky Pervo Sex Stuff' in a third, and so on) but is one limited to a single screen name? I mean, can I operate under the name my mother gave me, 'Ganesh' and 'MrFuckTrousers'?

*cheesy gameshow announcer voice* Yes you can!

Trillian just acts as a sort of package IM program, allowing you to run IRC, ICQ, AIM, MSN or Yahoo messenger all at the same time or independently of each other. So you can be 'Ganesh' on IRC and 'MrFuckTrousers' on Yahoo messenger at the same time if you like. Trillian connects to each of those services through individual connections.

2) When I go online, will those on my buddy list(s) automatically know about it, or would I have to log in to Trillian first? And is there any way of splitting off the various address books - to prevent my mother, say, messaging me when I'm discussing 'Hot Leather Fistdaddies IV' with ManHole?

Trillian isn't its own service. It's just an app that plugs into the above mentioned services (which makes those services slightly uncomfortable, last I read). But yeah, you have to fire up Trillian before you can access those IM services. If you don't want your mother to interrupt you while engaged in other conversations, you may want to limit those conversations to a certain IM service. Like let Mom know she can find you on AIM but don't connect to that service while you're talking to Manhole in IRC. Or you could construct a completely new identity under AIM that your mother doesn't know about but others do.

There's even a function within some IM services to allow ONLY those persons on your buddy list to see you. So you can be selective about whose name you put on under that IM identity. It's all in how you make your IM identities.

3) Does Trillian actually join all those disparate messaging systems (AIM, MSN, ICQ, etc.) on my behalf? I can't quite get my head around how it works...

Yep. It's a very slick program.

21:45 / 04.10.03

I see. So I can compartmentalise my online contacts but I'd have to do so via individual messaging systems. Would I then have to join those individually (before joining Trillian) or what?

21:52 / 04.10.03

I see. So I can compartmentalise my online contacts but I'd have to do so via individual messaging systems. Would I then have to join those individually (before joining Trillian) or what?

Some you do. IRC is pretty easy to make a fictionsuit on the fly. But most of the others require you to register your identity through them. ICQ, AIM, MSN and Yahoo.

I'm trying to remember if Trillian incorporates that setup in their program. I believe it does but I'm not for sure (I'm at home on the iBook right now).

21:55 / 04.10.03

So... if I wanted Trillian to coordinate a variety of messaging systems, I'd need to join all those systems individually first, yes?

21:59 / 04.10.03

You'd have to register an identity. I mostly only use AIM, Yahoo and IRC so when registering an identity on AIM, I know you have to go through the motions of downloading their dumb little program but the registration process come first before the download. Once you've registered, keep ahold of your AIM fictionsuit and your password. Same goes for Yahoo and more than likely all the others. The login name and password that you have to let you into those services is all Trillian really wants and uses.

22:02 / 04.10.03

Ah, okay. So you can't just register with Trillian; you have to register with X, Y and Z first?

22:04 / 04.10.03

Trillian's just a program that lets you connect to the various networks. It's not a service in itself, you don't "register" with it. (Well, you register if you pay for it, but that's different.)

Come to think of it, I think you can log in under multiple usernames on the *same* service at the same time, too. Can't quite remember.

22:04 / 04.10.03

Yep.

00:11 / 05.10.03

So it's basically a way of managing one's existing IM services? That's cool; I guess I'll have to go register with them, then...

00:40 / 05.10.03

Incidentally, what with all the IM services constantly changing their protocols for "security" reasons, and the prospect that they might start charging or restricting services, I've mostly switched to using Jabber, which is open-source and runs on whatever servers people want to set up - and you can communicate with people on other servers without problems.

One extra advantage of this is that, if you connect with a Jabber client to a suitably enabled server, you can also connect to all the more common services as well. Software on the server translates messages to and from Jabber pretty much invisibly.

The disadvantages are that you have to find a reliable server that has these transports, of course. Sometimes you find that you can't connect to Yahoo or whatever. But usually, they all work.

I'm fr1dgemagnet@jabber.org.uk incidentally.

00:46 / 05.10.03

Fridgemagnet, much of your last post sounded, to me, like Charlie Brown's teacher...

01:26 / 05.10.03

blah BLAH BLAH server blah client blah BLAH open-source blah BLAH BLAH XML TRANSPORT PROTOCOL BLAH blah are you listening to me?

01:27 / 05.10.03

this is more a kind of general IM thing... I was thinking of putting it in the Lab actually. But I thought I'd rot your thread instead.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

16:11 / 05.10.03

I use AIM, simply because it's easy, and none of the wankers bother me. Also, most of the people I work with on-line use it. It's not horrible (ICQ is now so buggy I hate it. I also have an active hatred for how it makes you click on it each time to get your message.

On AIM, I'm SolitaireRose. And I don't bite.

19:39 / 05.10.03

I like AIM.

User i.d. is kookymojito

All Acting Regiment

23:43 / 20.06.06

So I couldn't find the old thread, but I thought I might bump this to say I'm aroundon MSN and Yahoo if anyone wants to have real time chats about what food I'm eating and stuff. Just PM me.

I hope someone PM's me now.

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