- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
- Date added: April 08, 2009
- Total Downloads: 568,198
- Downloads last week: 1,054
- See full specifications
A newer version of Pidgin is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- 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.
Version 2.5.5 fixes tooltip errors and ICQ stability.
What's new in this version:
Version 2.5.5 fixes tooltip errors and ICQ stability.
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User reviews of Pidgin 2.5.5
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 220 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 5 user reviewsSee all 5 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Pidgin 2.5.5
Pros: This product in not only open souce, but secure; also fast, reliable, easy to use, and all around outstanding.
Cons: None as far as i can tell.
Summary: This is the greatest product i have ever used. I used to be a trillian guy, but found this and tried it; i loved it at first site.
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Version: Pidgin 2.5.5
Pros: Works well with Yahoo and AOL
Cons: hard to get gtalk set up on it still have not figure it out
Summary: Works as long as you do not want to use it for your Gtalk account
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Version: Pidgin 2.5.5
"Simple, no nonsense multi-IM serivce cilent"
Pros: I like that I can sign into both of my Yahoo accounts, my MSN, AIM and so forth, or disable one as needed. It doesn't have any ads or any other nonsense one doesn't need.
Cons: Occasionally the updates are out of synch with some backend upgrades made at one of the IM services, but this is pretty rare in my experience.
Summary: I replaced Trillian with Pidgin when it was still called Gaim. I've not regretted that switch. I've found Pidgin to be more reliable and keeping my accounts connected more often. It serves my needs without a lot of confusing extras that I neither wa... read more >>
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Version: Pidgin 2.5.5
Pros: I can connect to all my friends without having to use several programs. I've used Trillian in the past & this is faster & easier.
Cons: Haven't found any
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0 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Version: Pidgin 2.5.5
"Pidgin works just not as expected."
Pros: It works well for allowing me to monitor my e-mails from multiple sites.
Cons: IIt fails to launch Yahoo or Hotmail e-mail properly when you want to actually read your e-mails.
Summary: It works, it just doesn't work well.
- See all 5 user reviews Write review
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