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"Official" Clients


These are not necessarily the best, they are just the clients developed and released by the folks who run the actual IM systems.

AOL Instant Messenger
MSN Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger
ICQ

"Unofficial" Clients



Authorized Third-Party Clients


Apple iChat (AIM)

Unofficial Multi-Protocol Clients


These clients are written by third parties, and are generally compatible with one or more of the above protocols. I have tried to weed out any clients that are no longer actively developed. The clients below have active developer communities and therefore are likely to be fixed if you find a problem with them. Also, if there is a protocol one of these clients does not currently support, there is a very good chance it will soon be added.

Proteus (AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo!)
Adium (AIM, ICQ, MSN, Gadu-Gadu)
Fire (AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber)

"Non-Native" Clients


These clients run through X11, Java, or some other application layer on top of the Mac OS. Performance is probably not as good as the above native programs.

JBuddy (Java)
GAIM (X11)

Jabber Clients


Jabber is a third-party IM system. Jabber servers are independently run, and the server itself does provide connectivity to other IM protocols. Since the application itself does not natively contain support for multiple protocols, it is listed separately. These clients will allow you to connect to a Jabber server at a bare minimum, and will allow interconnection to other IM services if the Jabber server supports it.

PSI

Note: This FAQ entry is by no means exhaustive. If you find something you think should be added to the list, please use the feedback/corrections link at the bottom of the entry.


Feedback received on this FAQ entry:
  • please add www.trillian.im

    2011-01-25 10:55:55 (Da Geek Kid See Profile)



Expand got feedback?

by prwood See Profile edited by JJ See Profile
last modified: 2004-02-17 16:17:45