Are fewer people using MSN?

[UnderOpenSky]

There's quite a few of these cross-platform IMs. These 3 seem the main contenders:

Pidgin
Miranda
Trillian

Any experts care to opine which to pick, or are they all the same.

Well I've been pleased with Pidgin so far, got it running MSN, Facebook, GChat and Skype, does what it says on the tin, but does look a little basic.

I used Trillian years ago, but stopped because of a bug/feature that meant if you let someone else use it, you got your contacts merged on the MSN server. I assume they've sorted that now. Didn't release it supported Facebook and it looks prettier, so downloading it now. Will let you know how I think the two compare.

 

[sumimasen]

Cheers. Can't believe after all these years I've been running MSN, Yahoo and Gtalk all on seperate programs! Makes sense to combine.

 

[boskysquelch]

thars emesene too ... http://www.facebook.com/pages/emesene/39124286967

http://www.emesene.org/

&

aMSN also

http://www.amsn-project.net/download.php

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Well just installed Trillian, first impressions are good, its much nicer to look at then Pidgin and beats MSN as well. Also nice to have standard windows conventions like ticking boxes rather then highlighting them. Also supports Facebook and Skype out the box rather then relying on unsupported plugins. Downside is I'm using a trial version of the Pro version that would cost $25 if your ethics didn't allow you to crack it.

Edit: Also seems to handle Facebook status updates and email better as well.

 

[grit]

FWIW ive always liked pidgin

 

[Intastella]

I rarely use it anymore.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I was a user of Trillian when it first came out and was free but donations encouraged, and I bunged them a fiver or so, and got a pro licence for free from it when they went paid. It's a good program but I'm not sure I'd pay when Pidgin is also good and completely free.

Adium is the Mac client based on Pidgin, and is pretty slick - I use it all the time. It also has Skype support, or rather, you can use it to send and read Skype IM. (It's a pain in the arse having to use two programs and lots of people at work use Skype IM.)

 

[Silva]

If anything, I noticed most people stopped using MSN after they got addicted to Twitter. Which then led to me unfollowing a lot of people because they think Twitter is an IM service.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

This might sound like a daft question for anyone who is using trillion, but how do you get it to show your contacts for Facebook. Its giving me a news feed and status updates, but isn't showing my contacts like it does for msn.