Review of Pidgin

Setup file Size: 13.7 MB

Installation File Size: 30.5 MB

Version: 2.6.0

Author(s): Daniel 'datallah' Atallah, John 'rekkanoryo' Bailey

Web Site: www.pidgin.im

Build Date: 2009-06-09

Old Name: Gaim

OS Compatibility: Linux, BSD, Mac OS X, and Windows.

            
Pidgin is chat software which lets you to log in to your multiple accounts on multiple IM networks. Therefore, it is also called as multi-protocol instant messaging client. With Pidgin, you have plethora of accounts to choose for. Without any hassles you can be chatting with friends on MSN, talking with a friend on AOL and sitting in the Yahoo chat room, all the same time.

Like most of the open source software, it is also bloat free and run smoothly on any system (in fact, it consumes only about 3 MB of system memory). This is where Pidgin is strong compared to other IM clients. It is full of useful features although it lacks all the eye-candies that other clients have.

        Now, talking about my experience with Pidgin, it started as a little nightmare. I used Pidgin for the first time in the Linux Mint 5 Operating System. I tried to sign in on MSN and Yahoo networks. I was connected to the MSN network but even after waiting for half an hour I couldn't connect to the Yahoo network. This was my first experience with Pidgin, and totally disliked it. Then I tried Pidgin on Windows XP and I successfully signed in to my MSN, Yahoo and Gmail networks simultaneously. I was so amazed and happy to chat with friends on MSN and Yahoo from the single window at the same time. This time there was no hassles and problems of connecting to my accounts. What I really like about Pidgin, is the ability to connect to the multiple networks in one window at same time. It doesn't disconnect Yahoo network while chatting in MSN or Gmail.

      It is compatible with the following chat networks.

1. AIM
2. Bonjour
3. Gadu-Gadu
4. Google Talk
5. Group wise
6. ICQ
7. IRC
8. MSN
9. My Space IM
10. QQ
11. SILC
12. SIMPLE
13. Sametime
14. XMPP
15. Yahoo
16. Yahoo-Japan

           Pidgin supports all most all the features of a single Instant Messenger like, smiles, file transfers, sending off line messages, buddy icons, and typing notification. It also supports many plug-in. I liked the 'Buddy Ticker' plug-in of Pidgin which shows the recent offline and online buddies.

        However, Pidgin lacks voice chat and video conference facilities; these are the main drawbacks of Pidgin. So, for general text-only messaging purpose, I would like to recommend this software. It doesn't disconnect in the middle of nowhere, that is, it is stable. If you want everything in one window then Pidgin is the one you are looking for.

(Reviewed By: Anil Kumal; Edited By Saurav Pokhrel)