Pidgin has plenty of plugins you can download to extend the software even further, such as being able to store notes about a specific buddy, customizing colors in the conversation windows, and others.
--Preston Gralla
Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks
Strengths: Small footprint. VERY unassuming and unobtrusive compared to the Yahoo! client. No toolbar. Gives e-mail notifications just like the Yahoo! client did. Does not pester you to link to social sites. Does not have ads.
Weaknesses: Stock chat sounds will quickly get annoying (but you can change the sound files, or simply mute the sounds). You will have no control over sound volume though, compared to other applications. Many fewer features than the big brand chat clients.
Overall Evaluation: Tired of large chat clients that want you to install a toolbar, run ads on your desktop, show you the latest news and share your contacts with Facebook, etc etc etc? Pidgin is for you.
Duration of ownership: 2 Weeks
Strengths: All your buddys look the same. You can't tell the difference between someone on Yahoo and someone on AIM. Everyone has the same green bubble to tell you if they're online or not. Unless you have 5 or 6 friends it's just not practical.
Weaknesses: Aside from the ability to sign in multiple accounts and use slightly less RAM than previous versions there's not much else if anything.
Overall Evaluation: Pass this up or get a previous version on GAIM. This just isn't worth it.
Duration of ownership: 3 Months
Strengths: Uses much less memory than Yahoo IM. No ads poping up.
Weaknesses: No voice support.
Overall Evaluation: Easy to install and setup. Many add-ins are available. Options allow you to change several settings, e.g., logging on as invisible to everyone.
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