Adium releases v.1.0.4; remains uncontested best IM client
If you haven’t had the joy of experiencing Adium, dear Mac-loving friends, there is no time like the present. Adium is hands down the best instant messaging client on the Internet, at no cost, and they just released an updated version (v. 1.0.4), so get it while the gettin’s good!
Pshaw, you might say; how could one free instant messaging client have the stuff to rule them all? A combination of endless customizability and good quality programming, I would retort.
After all, there are so many clients to be had, and what do they bring to the table? You have your standard AOL instant messaging client, which I daresay is more painful at times than kidneystones, what with those blasted video advertisements that won’t go away; not to mention the normal annoyances associated with anything AOL has done to date.
You could break into the world of open source clients, then, perhaps utilizing such tools as Trillian; an excellent, multi-client messaging app that lets you access all the different IM realms from Yahoo to MSN and more (although lets be real, if you’re young and hip like the Mac dude, your friends are not using MSN).
Only problem with a program like that it really is a near-carbon copy of the standard AOL client, with some added compatibility, and if you want the real goodies, you have to pay. No good.
This quite hastily brings me to the next (and in my humble opinion, best) instant messaging client available: Adium. Why so hot to trot?
1. All the customization your Mac-loving heart desires. You can customize everything down to the nuts and bolts (literally), from your friends list to your message box, your add-ons to your emoticons, and there and back again three times over. You get the gist; if you don’t believe me, try it out.
In addition to that, I would like to point out the key factor to fun and successful customizing is a community that is constantly providing new content; Adium has such a following. If you don’t want to do it yourself (which is quite rewarding), there are plenty of free, easy to install options online.
2. Quality programming – I find many times that programs with a wide spectrum of upgrades available generally are quite buggy, and if they aren’t, the creators want money for their efforts. Not so with Adium; a happy balance between consistent, solid programming and room for creativity exists.
3. Features that, sadly, make iChat appear like a decrepit hamster, unable to turn wheels most hamsters could – I spend a grossly large amount of time online, and believe it or not, it is usually for school or work.
That being said, I enjoy a quality invisibility mode. Why? I like seeing who is online without being harrassed by them, quite honestly. iChat has no such mode; I have to imagine, as AOL has included this feature for some time (and we all know that our toddler children might be able to program better than their stooges), Apple could have written a few lines for the secretive parts in all of us.
Furthermore, as one who is haughty enough to think people read my away messages, I occasionally like leaving a good quote for stalkers to read; however, this can at times take more than one line, and iChat will not allow for such tom-foolery. Is it that hard to allow me to hit return and not necessarily end my away message?
There are more examples, but I can tell you this affirmatively; if you try Adium, and you enjoy having the most diverse and well-designed instant messaging program available, you will have a hard time going back to anything else.
The best part is, Adium is just another wonderful piece of Mac-only programming we can hold above PC-users’ heads, teasing them as if they were a famished pony in need of a carrot (note, the Blorge team does not condone pony abuse in any way). If this says anything, I wish Adium was available to my PC-using friends; I’m willing to open up the exclusive club doors to them, just because the program is so good!
If you haven’t tried it, now is the time. I suppose I should note that 1.0.4 brings many fixes to unexpected shutdowns in weird transitions, and generally brings more consistency to an already beautiful piece of programming. Get Adium here, and then come back and tell me how much you love it!
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