- guardian.co.uk, Monday July 21 2008 00.01 BST
- The Guardian, Monday July 21 2008
Instant Messenger isn't just the favoured mode of communication for depressed teenagers avoiding homework; it can be invaluable for those urgent work questions that need an answer sharpish, too. Unfortunately it's unlikely that all your friends and colleagues have the decency to choose the same messenging client - some will use Yahoo, others can dabble in Google Talk or AIM. So what do you do to prevent your desktop becoming cluttered with buddy lists from all your different IM accounts?
The best option is to either download a multiprotocol IM client or sign up for a similar web-based IM service. Multiprotocol IM clients are desktop applications which allow you to load up all of your contacts from various accounts within a single client - merging your address books and enabling you to chat with friends whether they're on iChat, MSN or any other IM. These multiprotocol IM clients are usually platform specific, with Mac users tending to go for Adium (adiumx.com) while PC users opt for either Pidgin (pidgin.im) or Trillian (ceruleanstudios.com).
If you're not always using the same computer, a web-based service like Meebo (meebo.com) is best. Like its desktop-based counterparts, registering for a Meebo account allows you to sign in to multiple IM accounts at once, so you can chat to all your contacts from within the same Meebo interface.
