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- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: October 15, 2009
- Total Downloads: 600,269
- Downloads last week: 1,312
- See full specifications
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 220 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
Your mother uses AOL Instant Messenger. Your spouse prefers MSN. Your office insists on Yahoo. What are you going to do? You could run all those chat clients at once, or you could use Gaim, now renamed Pidgin. Like Trillian, Fire, and other third-party IM clients, this open-source messaging application lets you access multiple IM networks from one window, including Google Talk and MySpaceIM as well as lesser-known protocols such as Jabber and Gadu-Gadu.
Pidgin's biggest change is the redesigned interface. The Buddy List can be viewed in Basic or Advanced mode, and the most important features, including the Plug-in List, have been graduated from the Preferences window into their own panes. Twenty-two plug-ins come prepackaged as Pidgin repositions itself as a highly extensible chat client.
The IM features are unimpeachable: smileys (you can find tons of emoticons on the developer's site), file transfers, and multiperson chats. The Buddy Pounce feature lets you automatically perform certain actions (play a sound, execute a command, open an IM window) when a contact signs on or off. Pidgin also gets lots of intangibles right: logging and time-stamping, for instance, are well-executed and easy to access. However, it lacks IP telephony and video conferencing, and there are still some bugs--most notably in the Help menu. Still, Pidgin remains a highly recommended text-only messaging app.
Publisher's description
From Pidgin :Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim) is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for BSD and Windows. It is compatible with AIM (Oscar and TOC protocols), ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and Zephyr networks. Pidgin users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time. It also goes beyond that and provides many unique features. A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle; and plugins, consisting of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification, and iconify on away.
What's new in this version:
Version 2.6.3 fixes a crash when performing DNS queries on Unixes that use the blocking DNS lookups and crash when some clients send contacts in a format we don't understand.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 220 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 6 user reviewsSee all 6 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Pidgin 2.6.3
"only if you are a basic user"
Pros: Combines multiple IM applications
Cons: Does not support webcam, Does not import ignore list
Summary: I thought this would be an efficient way to combine my IM applications since I have friends who use both yahoo and MSN. What I found out is that the people I put on my ignore list started crawling out of the woodwork, and I wasn't able to use my we... read more >>
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.3
Pros: It gives me th4e ability to check multiple IM's at the same time..
Cons: No real problems.
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.3
"Does what it says on the tin"
Pros: Hate to use cliches - but it does do what is says on the tin! A plain, simple IM service for those who wish for just that without the addition of a mulitmedia centre. And no adverts!
Cons: Haven't found any.
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.3
"Just OK, a little hard to use."
Pros: Connects a large no. of protocls/IM services in one place
Takes comparatively less space
Is useful for people who have a lot of different IDs in everyday use.Cons: Too much hotch-potch(Things here and there)
Not a very user-friendly interface
Better software out there
Reduces features of the original IM software(like nudges or winks on windows live messenger)Summary: It is useful to keep all of your IM services in one place and talk in one place but there is definitely better software out there like Trillian or Digsby. But I think it is definitely better to download all of the IM original softwares keeping all o... read more >>
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.3
"Best messaging client ever made"
Pros: Works on almost all protocols (except Skype). Doesn't take a lot of resources, no stupid adds.
Cons: Some things that normally work on the original messengers don't work but that's OK (File sending work, and this is enough for me)
Summary: I thank the people that made such a great program, it just keeps things simple. Why to use GTalk, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live all open to slow down your PC (or Mac) when you can use Pidgin?
- See all 6 user reviews Write review
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