posted Thu 17 Mar 2011 04:52 PM  

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Product: Adium
Price: Free
From: download.com

Verdict: recommended
Why: finally the gazillion chat apps out there can be meshed into one conveniently and in a cute little package

Main Review:

I for one started using chat apps since ICQ. Never really caught on to IRC, and I stuck with MSN chat through good and bad till today. I hated facebook chat, and I kinda like gchat. The problem is, everybody likes different formats, and you end up with friends on all the different chats. No way you can run all of them!

I started using ebuddy for awhile but it was so stupid. It took too long to load, needs a website, etc etc. It just was not user friendly enough for a tech-slow guy like me.



Just look at how cute it is.

Adium basically lets you sign in to all your basic chat applications at the same time! So you can delete all the excessive stuff clogging up your desktop and shortcuts.

It will list all your contacts, from all the different applications, in one compact little bar. Now all your online chatting can be reduced to one simple application.



The layout is minimalist, and oh so cute. The little bird flaps its wings when you receive a message.

OK so what's the catch.

Adium is a little buggy if you ask me.

For one, I always have problems when people send me files. Especially so when one user is on a Mac.

You also lose out on a lot of 'personalization' factors that most chat apps offer. Like a profile, or a excerpt you can put under your name from your favourite movie, putting a photo, stuff like that.

It also has online/offline issues once in awhile which I do not really understand.

All in all, I say it rocks. It is free, it is hassle-free, and it is oh so cute.