I used to use MSN exclusively in the good old days, but now I mainly use a combination of Skype and Meebo and in some cases,  Digsby. I am not permanently signed on to any network, I do not like distractions, and I either see most of my friends every week, or email them or call them. For clients and firends abroad we also usually use email, or Skype, if any other networks come up, I use Meebo.

However, I like Digsby a lot, since it supports a lot of networks, has email and twitter built in and some nifty added extras which make it the best all round IM client out there in my opinion. Overall though I am a solitary kind of guy, especially when I’m working, so I don’t really need it a lot. Which is your favorite client, how do you use IM networks? Let us know in the comments!

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Some IM networks can easily be adapted to run on a LAN. One example is Jabber, where numerous clients and servers exist. This article provides simple instructions on how to set a Jabber server – for LAN use – under Linux.

Using Bonjour, Apple’s auto-discovering networking tool, is another option. The beauty of using Bonjour is that no server is required and, to my knowledge, all communication is peer-to-peer. Bonjour is available on OS X, Linux and Windows (nb Windows users will have to install it). Pidgin provides for instant messaging via Bonjour. iChat can work in a similar fashion on OS X, and Miranda supports Bonjour if a plug-in is installed.

netsend is another method of sending messages between machines with Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP and 2003 installed on them. To use netsend, go into command prompt and simply enter net send recepient_name text_of_the_message. Recepient name is the user’s account on the network or the computer’s name. netsend is not polished and requires a little more effort to actually communicate, as a recepient must be specified every time (making it slightly slower to use than other IM solutions).

Another option is BORGChat, although that looks increasingly aged and is not really developed, not having left beta since it started being developed in 2002.

It is worth noting the above options are all free and will not cost $1000s like some enterprise internal IM tools available!

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Windows Live Messenger 9 displays advertisements that is changing frequently in the main program interface. This can be quite irritating at times. There is no obvious way to disable the advertisement from withing the Instant Messenger which means that the only way to get rid of it is to use third party tools.

Some tools patch the Windows Live Messenger 9 files directly which will be a problem when updating to a newer version. A far better solution is to leave the Messenger files would be one that would not tamper with the Windows Live Messenger 9 files itself and that is what Live Advert Removal (via Technix) does.

Above is a screenshot of Windows Live Messenger 9 with ads enabled. Live Advert Removal manipulates the Windows host file so that the advertisements cannot be loaded. It still means that a static Windows Live Messenger logo will be displayed at the exact same position but it means that no advertisement will be loaded from the Internet and that there will be no rotation.

The second screenshot displays the results of the host file addition. Using the Live Advert Removal software program is straightforward. It comes as a zip file that contains files to remove and to enable ads in Windows Live Messenger 9.

Experienced users can manipulate the host file manually for the same result. The host file can be found in system32/drivers/etc. The following line has to be added to get the same result: 0.0.0.0 rad.msn.com

Make sure to enable the option in Windows to see hidden and system files to be able to locate the host file.

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The client Coccinella takes the second path by adding new features like a whiteboard to the Instant Messenger. It can connect to any Jabber/XMPP messaging server (including MSN, ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger and Google Talk). But first the basics. The client has all the usual standard features like client lists, group chat, file transfers, avatars, emoticons and secure connections.

Besides that Coccinella supports Voice over IP connections and the previously mentioned whiteboard. Take a look at the screenshot below to get an understanding of how the chat whiteboard works.

That feature comes in pretty handy if you want to visualize information or just draw a nice heart to your loved one. The chat client comes with installers for Windows (Windows 98 to Windows XP, no Vista support yet), Apple Macintosh and Linux. The source is also available at the download page of the website.

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AIM Express tries to change that for users of the AOL Instant Messenger. It’s a web service that is offering AIM users a way to send and receive messages without the AIM client. That comes pretty handy if you are at a library or at work and want to send your friends a short message.

The only requirement of AIM Express is Adobe Flash 9.0 that has to be installed on the computer so that the service can be started. All that needs to be done is signing in with the username or email and password and you get access to the AIM Express client that opens in a popup window.

Make sure you don’t block the popup. The client offers a basic functionality, you see all your buddies, may chat with one or several of them, may add new buddies and may change your online status.

It’s a nice web application for everyone who is using AIM and needs access to it on computers that are not his own. Just pray that the system admin did not disable access to either Flash or the AIM Express website.

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The creators recently published a demonstration video that is showing some of the functions that are currently implemented in Spicebird. The application itself looks pretty stable considering that the next public release will be 0.3 alpha. This release version includes an RSS reader as well. What is missing, or has not been shown in the video is the Wiki which would add tremendous value to the software.

Spicebird is based on Mozilla and uses several modules like Thunderbird and Lightning. A customizable homepage is the starting point whenever you run Spicebird. You can add all sorts of widgets, modules and the likes to it just like you would do on websites like Netvibes.

It is possible to add upcoming events, Rss feeds or a mail folder to get a quick overview. I think this is wonderful but they have to think of a solution where someone would want to add lots of RSS feeds to the application. I’m not sure how Spicebird would handle this.

They did add at least one unique feature to the mail client. Mails are automatically scanned for events and if one is found Spicebird will ask if you want to add the event to your calendar. the Instant Messenger is based on Jabber and integrates perfectly into Spicebird.

You do see the online status of your contacts in your address book / contacts list and can send them a message instantly that way.

I hope they do provide easy ways of importing data from Thunderbird, Mozilla and RSS readers into the application which would probably help in gaining users.

via [Cybernetnews]

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The new Yahoo Messenger 9 introduces several new features that make the upgrade worthwhile. The whole software has a new look and feel with large avatar pictures of your contacts, new skins and emoticons. Flickr was integrated into the messenger making it possible to share pictures from your account with contacts or save pictures that have been send to you to your Flickr account.

The most useful option in my opinion could be the build in media viewer which displays links to photos, videos and the like in messenger.

Read More:

Yahoo Messenger 9

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Eight Instant Messaging networks are currently mentioned on the Instantbird homepage, those are: AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, QQ, XMPP and Yahoo!. Several others are however available as well if you want to add a new network. It runs pretty solid for such an early version though and it will be interesting to see how this project evolves in the future.

The roadmap looks promising and is outlined at the developers website of Instandbird. Localization, smiley and sound themes are for instance scheduled for version 0.2 of the client. It will take some time but if the developers manage to put the same effort and dedication into this project than the other teams are putting into developing Firefox, Thunderbird and Songbird they will surely create a remarkable software.

Instantbird is Open Source and available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Apple Macintosh.

Read More:

Instantbird Homepage
via Download Squad

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The only real problem that most users could face is that every participants needs to run the plugin to be able to encrypt the chat. Windows users simply download and install the plugin. The last step would be to activate it in Tools > Plugins. This generates the RSA keys that are used to encrypt and decrypt the messages.

A click on the key icon and the selection of Enable Encryption starts an encrypted session. The public key of your contact will automatically be downloaded to your computer and will be used to encrypt your messages to him and vice versa.

Features:

• Automatically creates a public/private key pair for you upon loading the plugin
• Automatically transmits your public key to other users.
• Supports 512 – 4096 bit keys.
• Saves keys of known users, and warns you if their public key has changed.
• Embeds all encryption and keys inside HTML, so if the other user doesn’t have the plugin, they will get a little message telling them about the plugin, and won’t get a screen full of garbage.
• Stores keys in human readable files in your .gaim/.pidgin directory, in case you ever need to copy/edit them by hand. Which you really shouldn’t have to do.
• Automatically recognizes if you are chatting with someone who has the plugin- see the Preferences dialog.
• Available for the Windows version of Pidgin.
• Modular and extensible. If you want to define a different type of encryption, you can use this plugin as a wrapper to take care of transporting the encrypted binary over the IM pipe.

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Pidgin Encryption

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Popular web services like Meebo get blocked from school, university and work networks quite frequently and it is always nice to have an ace – Koolim – in your sleeve. Koolim should work even if the computer you are working with is protected by a firewall.

Koolim supports the major Instant Messenger networks: AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk and ICQ plus several lesser known networks such as Jabber, X-Fire and Gadu-Gadu.

Every user has the option to either log into any of the IM networks by entering his username and password or by signing up to Koolim and handling matters from the inside.

Read More:

Koolim Homepage
via: Genbeta

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