What instant messenger do you use?
 

I need help looking for something new. I'm using Dead AIM, a 3rd party program that logs onto AIM.

AOL IM itself I'd rather not download. I'm sure there are ads and junk.

I haven't heard of any other good program lately that logs onto AIM.

What do you use or recommend that logs on AIM?

Actually, AIM Classic is pretty good. Easily customizable and, if you set your preferences right, you only ever have to look at one small ad in the buddy list window.

Meebo, if that counts. It has AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Instant Messanger, and some other IM programs all built into one convenient web chat doohickie. I like using it since I don't have to install those programs onto my computer.

I'm pretty much convinced that iChat is the best AIM client ever made. I also use messenger:mac.

On the off chance I'm on a Windows machine, Pidgin and MSN Messenger.

Also always some variation of IRC.

On Mac I use Adium because, seriously guys, iChat blows dogs for quarters. On Windows I use Miranda IM. I wish the Mac had a one-in-all client like Miranda that supported IRC as well.

Aim 5.9 with Ad Hack.
Windows Live Messenger 8.1 with MessPatch and StuffPlug 3.


I like the old AIM's simplicity. I use Windows Live Messenger for it's video chat. WLM has the best video quality and largest camera window I've seen in an IM client. (I haven't checked other clients for quality in a while, so I'm not sure if it's still the best.)

I only have AIM and WLM friends, so I don't need clients for Yahoo or other services.

I use Digsby, another one of those multi-protocol chat programs. I just use it for AIM, MSN and checking my Gmail account. It can support a lot of other things (like social networking sites), but I've really got no use for all that stuff.

Pidgin, if only for it's ability to check my Hotmail and Yahoo accounts for e-mail. I hardly chat though, so it's useful for what I need it to do.

It's probably a little outdated but I use Miranda IM for all my chat needs that doesn't require msn messenger. After a little tweaking it's the most low profile IM program I've used.
But the one I'm on the most is Windows Live Messenger 8.5. Mostly for the ability to sketch silly things.

I use Pidgin mostly for AIM because my YIM disconnects too much, not to mention the spammers.

Pidgin and Google Talk, basically.

Currently AIM 5.9 and I used Digsby before. Might re-install Digsby though.

iChat + Chax really isn't that bad. I kind of like my desktop being seamlessly integrated graphically, and iChat is since its made and packaged with the OS. I also don't particularly like multiple protocol clients either for some reason, usually because they don't support things that the actual client does (IE: writing in MSN (although Macs don't support it anyway), video chat, etc) The only two things Adium really offers, multiprotocol support & customizability, are bothfairly useless to me.

messenger:mac was really a just because. Colloquy is a given for IRC. And I forgot that I use Skype on occasion.

I use Trillian for my multiple accounts, but that's assuming that I chat... which I don't. I'm rarely online, so I decided I was tired of having multipleIM programs. Basically I only use AIM, but I do have a Yahoo account as well. Every year I say I'm going to be online more, but every year it seems I'm online less :confused:...

At home, I use Adium on my Mac. For my rather limited (MSN, no real file transfers) purposes, it works fine, even on what is by today's standards a rather obsolete computer. I don't really use with IRC, so its absence does not bother me too much.

My Windows laptop runs Pidgin, as it shares most of Adium's strengths, albeit with a clumsier interface.

I use my mouth.

UHAUHauhahua that was a good one, now I'm going to have a sandwich, bbl.

I also use Adium over the failhorse that is iChat.

I like how customizable Adium is over iChat, not to mention I get less random disconnects and errors as well. But then again I only use it for the AOL client side of it.

I used to use Digsby a while back when it first came out, but I found that it was a little too bloated, and used too many system resources.

Now I use Miranda IM, and I really like it for all the customization options it has, and the low resource profile.

Another Adium user here, and I wouldnt have it any other way. I can change almost anything to my preference, and its just more manageable. I've tried using iChat on friend's Macs, only to end up disgusted by it.

Another Adium user. It's pretty much used exclusively for MSN, but I guess it's nice to have AIM available for talking to American friends.

This man speaks truth.

I still use an old copy of AIM 4.7. Best AIM ever made. Simple, streamlined, doesn't use too much memory, and with a simple modification in notepad, you don't have to see any ads at all.

I use Gaim. I don't know why, it's definitely not because of some geekish preference for this feature over that, or whatever. It's probably because I know about it, it works and I've never required a program that does something more. For all I know, I'm the only one who uses it still.

I don't have any program that covers MSN or ICQ because I personally don't use them and most people who do seem to also have an AIM account, so why bother with more than one in the first place?

That is true, if your contact list and circle of friends stick to AOL, there's really no need to use more than one IM network.

The rub comes in when you're in a setting where different people use different networks. For example, I'm from the Philippines - where almost everyone used Yahoo Messenger. I studied in Singapore, where quite a lot of people use MSN Messenger. Most of my contacts from the ZSNES board and GFF are from the US, and that's AIM territory. Different strokes, and you just gotta adapt.