Poll: Which Instant Messaging Client do you use primarily?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Which Instant Messaging Client do you use primarily? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=408)

[PlaceofDis]

i use ichat, but thats because all of my friends use aim or aol and i dont need anything fancier than that, so for me it just works, gotta love the interface too

[Knox]

None... well, IRC i guess, but it doesn't really count. Having said that - just installed both MSN and AIM, so i guess it'll be using them more often.

[MattG]

iChat most of the time...I use MSN once in a while for a friend that refuses to get an AIM account.

[Wonder Boy]

i use ichat, though its not wishout it's flaws.

[pyrotoaster]

I use Adium. The newest version is really nice. Besides, I can't stand the fact that iChat won't let other people see that I'm away.

[Patmian212]

Msn is 2 best to ichat
too bad i dont get a mac until next week 12 inch powerbook superdrive!!!!!! YEAH BABY

[zer0army]

Just switched from Proteus to Adium. Much happier now, Adium is a great client and doesn't hog the screen like others.

[mgargan1]

i use ichat, even though i think AIM is more functional. I like having a profile, and I think the ability to send an entire folder to a friend is much better than having to send a friend a file at a time. However; I'll get over the profile thing, and I don't send too many files to friends, so when i do, I'll just log onto AIM. As for ichat, i just can't get away from the little balloon thing it has going on for it. Too bad i don't know anyone with a webcam, cause i hear it has some great features.

Oh yea, I also don't like how you have to go under preferences to switch your screenname, it's a pain in the ass... they should have made it much more simple... i mean this is Apple, that's what they do.

[SiliconAddict]

Trillian. But that's simply because I'm still on a PC. I wish Trillian was available for the Mac. It really is a fantastic piece of software that supports every IM client, plus IRC, plus skinning, plus plugins, plus cust of how the chat windows show up, plus a ton of pref settings.

Its #3 on my list of apps that makes me think twice about getting a Mac. I can live without it but I'd rather not. :(

[rabatjoie]

I use Fire (could one say that it is kind of a trilian for the mac? or are there better apps?), because some of my friends are on ICQ and some are on MSN. I never understood why the IM networks keep being separate from each other... it's like having a phone that just reaches certain people, and other not... I wish that iChat was an application that serves all the different chat networks. Would be more apple-ish than a partial integration only.

[1macker1]

iChat is useless as a standalone messenger. So really most of the votes should be going towards AOL IM. Because if you only talk to people with a .Mac account, then your buddy list is pretty limited.

[ryan]

For those who don't know, iChat uses the AIM network, unless you're just chatting with people on your local network (via Rendezvous) in which case you're using Jabber/XMPP technology.

[mainstreetmark]

I've been bouncing around a lot recently. I landed on the latest version of Fire, and it's not so bad. I like iChat, and the ability to place screenshots in the chat window, but it doesn't talk to the other services. I liked Proteus, but I'm not sure if the author is still alive. The Ducks on Adium are nice, but every time I'd go offline, I'd get a Yahoo dialog popping up once a minute.

They all kind of suck, and I can't wait until we're all on one Grand Unified Chat Medium, and all these polychat applications will die off.

[~Shard~]

I hardly ever instant message, but always used ICQ on my PC, and have many friends on other clients, so I just use Fire to tie them all together. It works fine for the limited amount that I use it.

[FredAkbar]

Adium X (see my sig). I've used some version or other of Adium for a couple years now, and Adium 2.0/Adium X for quite a while (some number of months). It's currently on version .53 and getting better with each weekly (or so) release.

[wrldwzrd89]

I don't instant message very much, but I voted 'Other' - I use iChat, AIM, YIM, and MSNM equally. I don't have a primary IM client; in fact, some of my IM clients have empty buddy lists and no client has more than 2 buddies in the list (pretty bare, don't you think?)

[mnkeybsness]

i support adium!

BENEFITS

Adium is a multi-protocol program that will allow you to connect to MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and Jabber all at the same time and use multiple accounts for one protocol
Adium now uses the WebCore to render it's messages, so there are a large number of Message Styles now, with a few designers (like me) making them. See mine here (http://www.paularms.com/downloads/adium.html)
Adium has a forum here (http://www.funmac.com/forumdisplay.php?f=38)... We've got a great community with the developers posting almost every day in response to requests, bugs, and general chit-chat
It's open source. Don't like something? Download the CVS and change it yourself! Or, just build a new version every day to see what's coming up in new releases
And the list goes on. Check out the forums (http://www.paularms.com/downloads/adium.html) and download Adium (http://www.adiumx.com)

[IndyGopher]

I try the multi-protocol clients every now and then, but invariably one or more of them will tweak something and it will start having problems, so I wind up back at square one, running all the different clients individually. I no longer bother with AIM, though, since I don't use any of the advanced stuff and iChat works for me. Besides, I only have 1 AIM contact. I am downloading Adium now, though, since people seem to like it, and will give it a go.

[Bunzi2k4]

Well all my friends use aim... iChat is a pretty sweet program, but i do get a few errors every now and then... esp. with the flood warnings!!!!!!!

[frozenstar]

Apple has always focused on usability and interface design in their products. There is no question that iChat is superior to all the other IM clients in those respects.
So, for that reason, I stick to iChat.

[beefcake]

Adium is a fantastic little program. I stayed away from older versions of it because of stability, but the newer Alpha versions are more stable than AIM. The two things I will always use Adium above other apps for are tabbed message windows and a fully customizable contact list. Most bugs are openly discussed on the forums and will be fixed within the next few releases.

[encro]

IRC (Colloquy) is the main choice and a little bit of MSN Messenger thrown in the mix also.

[SPeedY_B]

IRC, but other than that, MSNM seems people in the UK dont know anything other than what's fed to them by Microsoft :mad: I use the client from http://dmsn.nl/ which supports the avatars etc, but no webcam :\

[a17inchFuture]

iChat is ony good for two things: the Audio and Video portion.

Not only do most of iChat's cool features and interface not transfer to other progams or users, but the iChat doesn't allow you to create a profile!!!

And their away message system also doesn't allow good spacing (aka hitting the return key to start a new line).

In general, iChat is good, but its still a couple generations behind AIM if you ask me.

I bet they will surpass AIM soon though.

[sethypoo]

I use iChat, but most of my friends have migrated to MSN. What sucks is that I don't have internet where I'm living right now, so I have to take my PB to my campus to get online wirelessly. It turns out that my University has blocked the port that MSN uses, when they blocked all filesharing ports. :(

[mc68k]

i use adium

i like the fact that i can configure nearly everything

plus it seems faster overall than iChat

[jeffy.dee-lux]

let me stand next to your...........
haha, yeah, right
anyways, when i first got fire, i liked it a lot, mainly cause of the ease of customizability and so forth, but there were a few kinks. But they just released version 1.0 a couple weeks ago, and pretty much everything has been worked out. Its so sweet. One thing i really appreciate is being able to set the default window size, so many chat programs take up way too much space, way more than you need for a bit of text, how many lines back do you need to read regularly anyways? Its got the brushed metal look too, which is pretty sweet, and i like the transparent windows. Program specific volume is essential for me too, cause i like my music lound and uninterrupted by annoying chat sounds.
I tried proteus and adium too, they were alright. I seem to remember proteus being kinda messed up with connections and so forth. And with adium, those little animals scared the crap out of me, just like furbies. Do they still have those?

Oh yeah, and i haven't been able to get msn file transfers through any of these apps, anyone else have that problem?

[King Cobra]

I use Adium. The newest version is really nice. Besides, I can't stand the fact that iChat won't let other people see that I'm away.

Does iChat really do that?

Anyways, I use iChat (no Audio/Video use), because Adium doesn't support iChatStatus, and because when I tried Adium a while back, it had too many windows to manage.

[wdlove]

I voted other, because personally I don't use Instant Messaging. My wife uses iChat.

[musicpyrite]

Wheres the button marked 'all of the above'?

I use AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo.

But mainly AIM because it is 'mainstreme'

[dubbz]

MSN Messenger on Mac and PC. All my friends use MSN, so I don't really have much choice. Most alternatives lack one or more feature that I need.

[baby duck monge]

I use Adium. The newest version is really nice. Besides, I can't stand the fact that iChat won't let other people see that I'm away.

i too use adium... except when it misbehaves. then i have to use ichat.

as for your issue with ichat, do a search for "iCar" on google, and you should be able to solve your problem. you will have to download SIMBL first, but after getting iCar (ichat auto-response), your away messages will work just like you want them to. :D

[cheekyspanky]

I use MSN, as do all of my friends, although a few used to use Yahoo's messenger, but they've all switched across now as well. I don't think AOL's messenger is that popular where I am, I hadn't heard of it until last year when introduced to it by an American friend (shown to me on his Powerbook).

[awulf]

I use Fire since it connects with IRC, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber & AIM. I use all of them (apart from jabber), I have buddies scattered across different networks.
Out of Fire, Adium & Proteus, I like Fire the best. Fire has everything set up the way I like.

[MrMacMan]

Just switched from Proteus to Adium. Much happier now, Adium is a great client and doesn't hog the screen like others.

Yup you gotta love Adium.

Great Great program.

[_pb_boi]

msn - all my mates use MSN, to the exclusion of all other chat clients I guess. It's like a phenomenon - I have 149 contacts there, and basically none on AIM that I talk to... though I'd prefer some, for iChat, but hey.

It's probably worth noting I'm in the UK, and I believe MSN is proportionately more popular here than most other places, certainly more popular than AIM among teenagers.

andy.

[Bendit]

Wow, I am surprised that so little people are using Proteus. Proteus 4 just recently came out (it's officially in beta but it's rock solid, just has a few quirks) and it's pretty amazing.

Still doesn't support file transfers or user pictures on all networks though. I think it's amazing that it's so good considering it's relatively small user base and that only one developer is working on it.

If more people used it and registered it I bet it would get even better.

[dukemeiser]

Yahoo or iChat. But I really don't chat anymore.

[sorryiwasdreami]

<------------ See the little yellow guy for the answer. AIM is what everyone I talk to uses; however, I hate the ad that pops up and the software that AOL installs on your computer without asking you.

[MacFan26]

I used to use Fire briefly, but then it crashed on me and I went back to AIM. I've been using iChat since it first came out, but I like Adium too. If iChat had more of Adium like preferences, and the ability to create a profile, it would be the greatest. Does it bug anyone else that iChat doesn't support gif's as buddy icons?

[wrldwzrd89]

Does it bug anyone else that iChat doesn't support gif's as buddy icons?
You shouldn't be using GIF anymore anyway. Use PNG (GIF's replacement) or JPEG instead; I've tested both and both work.

[MacFan26]

You shouldn't be using GIF anymore anyway. Use PNG (GIF's replacement) or JPEG instead; I've tested both and both work.

It does work to put GIF's as an icon, but they don't move, and I can't view others icons that move. Am I saying that right? Move's obviously not the technical term. :rolleyes:

[mms]

Adium is awesome. Before LibGaim (without profiles, the viewing of away messages, or icons), I used it in conjunction with iChat but since the last couple versions have been so stable for me, I use it exclusively. iChat is even no longer in my Dock, since around Adium 0.52. Very stable, full of features, and runs with less system resources than iChat. Downloading 0.54 right now...

Looking back at the same poll from October (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=300), it's amazing how much more people using Adium. It was 3.02% back then, now it's 10.11%. I've been a devoted user of Adium since back then, though.

[unfaded]

Adium.

I've used every single other one, and I despise them all. Adium's got it right. Anything I don't like, I can turn off, leaving only what I like.

[jeffbistrong]

i like ichat, its nice and simple to use, maybe could use the option to have a profile, or somthing like that, im not so sure about the away message thing, becuase like u can still im people and b away, and when some1 ims you when you are away it does not have an autoresponse thing like that . . . .could use those things . ..but overall i am happy with it . . .easy to use and simple .

[Mav451]

Primarily AIM 5.1.3036 (right before spyware in AIM got even worse).
DeadAIM 4.5 (patched).

MSN for any of my friends in China/HK/Taiwan.

[michaelrjohnson]

iChat, but i'm playing with Adium

[coolsoldier]

iChat, but still waiting for AIM compatible audio chats :(

[~Shard~]

I'm just going to wait until iPods have color screens, built-in iSights and iChat loaded on them, and then use their built-in WiMax (or equivalent) to video chat on the go with my friends and family while listening to tunes. ;) :cool:

[Jo-Kun]

I use dMSN, its a MSN clone, but it works better than MSN, for instance it shows when people remove you from their list (ok rarely happens, but nice to know) it used to have a function to show when someone blocked you, but since MSN sometimes kick you out when you use the manual blockchecker they removed it...

its compatible with MacOSX, Windows and Linux so one program fits all :-D

http://www.dmsn.nl

in the early stages when it still needed the terminal to start it I wrote the applescript for doing that to make it easier :-D now someone compiled a Mac version (the old ones needed JAVA to be triggered)

since iChat doens't work on MSN & all my friends mostly use PC's at work/home I need to be on MSN...

I can't vote anymore so it seems... but I would have voted 'other' anyway

very rarely I use ICQ

grts

Jo