Miranda IM

[Aurion]

Well,used that for a couple of weeks now,it's decent,not that bad but still a very basic chatting client,smoother,lighter than others (MSN,Yahoo,Skype ..etc)

Anyway,take a try...

Download

[anon]

not that bad but still a very basic chatting client

Very basic? It supports a bunch of protocols and extensions, and you can add even more things through plugins

[Options]

any other alternatives? I heard abt pidgin. is it good?

[anon]

Yes, Pidgin is also a good client. It supports a lot of protocols and is as customizable as MIM

[Aurion]

Very basic? It supports a bunch of protocols and extensions, and you can add even more things through plugins

yeah plugins are just toys that flatter things up still the main client core engine is basic compared to other sophisticated chatting clients such as MSN & Yahoo

[anon]

yeah plugins are just toys that flatter things up

Well, sometimes that's true, but in this case they can also add quite a great deal of functionality.

still the main client core engine is basic compared to other sophisticated chatting clients such as MSN & Yahoo

I don't know what you mean with "basic"..? For me it doesn't lack anything significant...

[Dr_Evo12321]

but still a very basic chatting client

With the right plugins you can transform Miranda form a flat program to one of the most powerful chatting clients! (and with themes to one of the most beautiful^^ )

[anon]

That's right.
It also has a very low memory footprint for a chat program (~10MB here), and a portable version of it exists at PortableApps.

[Aurion]

I already confirmed on the part of using very low RAM compared with other chatting client..still looks n00bish for me

[anon]

Simplicity owns
Why having a command window full of icons, when the field I type my messages in, the smiley button to click smileys whose code is too long to write, and maybe the file transfer button, are probably everything I will ever use?

[Aurion]

yeah but some times sophisticated parts in chatting clients make it more challenging for users,that's why I prefer those complex clients

[anon]

OK, I agree with that. It's true that once we get the hold of all of a program's options, we'd rather switch to "advanced mode".

Edit: although it's true that Miranda itself is a very powerful, customizable program regardless of its, maybe, simple user interface.

[Ostracized]

Sophisticated client the MSN? Are you kidding or what. Bloatware and adware that you actually run hacking patches to remove them. Also only with the ability to talk through one protocol, while with miranda you can connect in many at once.

When you first download it you'll see in the plugin section that all are the classic interface styles. Just like firefox when you download it it hasnt any plugins/addons.

Also compared to the other multi-protocol clients (trillian, pidgin, etc) the file-transfer protocol is beyond their reach cause you can get high speed transfers with miranda just like the original protocol client, while with others you cant.

FULLY costumizable, multi-protocol, high speed transfers, not just free but open-source too ...and still very low ram, i'd say the only "n00bish" thing around it is anyone that cant see/use it properly

In case you give it a real try, pop in those plugins:

clist_modern : Modern Contact List
IEview : Chatting interface which works with tabsrmm
mydetails : Modifiable window with your details
popup: Popup Plus
Smileyadd
tabsrmm : advanced chatting interface (multi-tabbed and multifanctioned where you can also add more things like IEview)
tipper : Hover over your mouse to anyone and a balloon will popup with their details

There are many skins you can choose from...For contact list skin i use Dark MI, and for Message window skin Dark TS

These are some plugins which considered basic now to most of the miranda users. Take the time to modify them to your needs and you have a powerful lightweight client.

[anon]

Exactly what I think, Ostracized.

If MSN or Yahoo were sophisticated clients, there wouldn't be patches to cleanup their UI or remove the ads, right?

Also, having more than one protocol in the same app is also more practical for some - I can't say anything though, as ICQ is the only one I use.

Plus, now you mention it...
I have first had some small problems getting Miranda to send files to my contacts (sometimes it'd get stuck at "Connecting..."), but after a few tweaks it worked properly.
Regarding the actual file transfer, I can't say too much about this either, because my ISP throttles everything that's P2P, but it did seem a bit faster than when using QIP.

My guess is that it's like Firefox like you mentioned: comes unmodded, but the minute you dive in the MIM plugin/addon "scene", you find all kinds of things to customize or be added to Miranda, and after that, not two set-ups look the same.

And thanks for posting your plugin list.