Tim and Change Will Surely Show

Your average Internet user for chat or IM programs will use their respective protocol’s IM client. AIM for AOL Instant messenger. Windows Messenger for MSN. Gmail for Gtalk.. etc. For as long as I’ve had two separate IM protocol accounts (I think ICQ and AIM were my first two) I have always preferred using a program that combines all clients into one. First it was Trillian, which I used for probably 3-4 years, mostly during college. Next I moved onto a program called Pidgin that I’ve been using for the past year or so and still is a great piece of software. I’ve never really pushed people to switch to something like Trillian or Pidgin because people use what they are used to. But now I would fully recommend everyone try out a new program… Digsby. Digsby is like the Trillian and Pidgin in that it combines all IM protocol’s into one client, but it also has a bunch of extra features that make it so much more than anything else out there. The website describes it as IM + Email + Social Networks in one easy to use application. Some of my favorite features include:

• Being able to check and perform functions in gmail or any mail account like archive, mark as read, or delete without opening the browser
• Following Facebook and Twitter status in a very simple “mini-feed” layout that again is non-browser (for those of you that don’t know what Twitter is, I plan to make a post on it sometime soon)
• Saving settings and account information to an online profile that you can use at multiple locations

Download Digsby and give it a try. I think it is still in beta right now, but I haven’t noticed any issues, and can’t wait for them to continue to improve it. Some of you I know just use web session IM, so this isn’t really for you, but if you have any IM program installed on your home PC or laptop that use use for any of the major Instant Message platforms, I would fully recommend you switch to Digsby for a bit and see if you don’t prefer it.