There’s no shortage of options when it comes to instant messaging tools. Most of my friends prefer Facebook to stay connected while my business partners use Gtalk. On the other hand, my father and some of my relatives liked the old MSN better than the rest.
Indeed I want to connect with everyone but installing different clients like Chit Chat, Gtalk and Windows Live messenger is not a good idea as I want to avoid clutter on my system at all costs. What I was looking for was a single application that could handle all IM services under one roof and that’s when I discovered Pidgin.
Pidgin is an open source messaging client that allows you to access multiple IM networks from a single window. Pidgin allows you to connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk, Facebook and many other chat networks at the same time. (you can even see who blocked you on Gtalk using Pidgin)
You can start by downloading and installing Pidgin for Windows. It is also available for Linux. Once Pidgin is successfully installed and you run it for the first time, you will be asked to add your instant messaging accounts. If you don’t want to configure it now, you can go back to Pidgin and click Manage Accounts in the Accounts menu to do so.
On the account management window, you can add, modify or remove accounts from Pidgin. We’ll start with adding some accounts by clicking the Add button. On add account window select your preferred IM client and provide login credentials and click add button. You can also provide a local alias and check for new messages if your IM supports mailing.
You can add any number of accounts in Pidgin. You can also add multiple accounts of the same IM service. Once you’ve added your IM accounts on Pidgin, you’ll be able to see all your online friends in your friends list along with their status icons and messages. To start chatting, just double click on any contact and launch the chat window.
Pidgin supports a tabbed chat interface, and so whether you’re chatting with your friends on Facebook, Yahoo or Gtalk, all your friends will be on the same window. Using Pidgin, you can send smiles, formatted texts, files, web links, and even send buzz to your friend if he doesn’t respond.
This is not all, you can enhance Pidgin by adding plugins to it. You can access the plugin list from the Tools menu and check the plugin you want to enable. There are currently 22 plugins in the list by default, for you to choose from.
My judgment
Pidgin is a well implemented concept to easily connect with all our friends on various IM networks. However, it lacks features like video conferencing and VOIP. I encountered some minor bugs while using it but since it is updated regularly there is no need to worry about them. The bottom line is that if you are looking for a rich multi-featured messenger with a simple user interface, then Pidgin should be your first choice.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
