- Quick specs
- Price: Free
- Operating system: Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows XP
- Date added: September 06, 2009
- Total Downloads: 591,966
- Downloads last week: 1,187
- 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 224 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 2.6.2 includes a number of minor changes.
What's new in this version:
Version 2.6.2 includes a number of minor changes.
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User reviews of Pidgin 2.6.2
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 224 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 4 of 4 user reviewsSee all 4 user reviews
This software version | All versions -
Version: Pidgin 2.6.2
Pros: No comment
Cons: No comment
Summary: No comment
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.2
Pros: always works. like to sign into 5 accounts at same time. pidgin helps me keep in touch with family.
Cons: when i click show buddy list, i get this list including IM friends. i have deleted it many times. it keeps putting a myspace contact in it's list at random. if i move the contact to its proper place it's back under IM friends next time i open list.
Summary: i like it because it works. but my contacts DO NOT STAY WHERE I PUT THEM.
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.2
"Simple, great, connect it all"
Pros: MSN, Freenode, Gamesurge, Quakenet, AIM, IRQ, all at the same time with 15 open chat tabs is great.
Cons: Lack of preset connection options like mIRC makes first time IRC users feel a bit isolated.
Summary: If you want to hang out on IRC, IRQ, MSN, AIM, etc. at all then this should be your program. No point running 5 chat programs.
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Version: Pidgin 2.6.2
"Sufficient, but has its fair share of bugs."
Pros: Clean, lite, very intuitive and easy to figure out, support most all popular protocols, and at least appears to have many useful features for list management, chat logs, privacy, customization, etc.
Cons: Issues with Yahoo & MSN connectivity and losing messages into "nothingness," such that they're never delivered. Major issues with AIM privacy. Blocked users can often still see and message you. File transfer with AIM users often doesn't work.
Summary: It is sufficient. It works, but it's buggy. But all multi-protocol chat clients are. They're all mixed bags. They all have some features you want and lack some. My biggest beef is with the inconspicuous, inefficient, chaotic approach Pidgin uses to ... read more >>
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