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Best messenger?


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#1
mintchip

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Hi everyone,

I need to know which messenger you all favor and why. I have never used these apps, but I'm now going to need one. I want to avoid spyware, adware, privacy invasions, etc. I need a messenger app that is free and does it all (the free Trillion does not have video capability, so it's a no go). Any recommendations? I currently have the old basic Windows messenger 4.7.3 that came with my computer. Is this sufficient? Thanks!
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#2
Facedown98

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Windows Messenger is just "OK", but I wouldn't use it. Windows Live Messenger is nice, with one little advertisement, maybe more if you have the welcome page enabled. It has video, audio, all that. It's probably the best messenger with all the features. AIM seems buggy for me, and unreliable. Yahoo! Messenger is good, but not many people use it, so unless you know people with Yahoo!, don't worry about it. As far as privacy invasions, AIM seems to be on the list of the most abused, becuase there seems to be a lot of viruses moving around, it's just a big target.
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#3
mintchip

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Hi Facedown98. Thanks for responding. FYI, in case you didn't know, Yahoo and Windows Live have now joined forces and are completely compatible. That means that anyone who uses Windows Live can be reached on Yahoo messengeer and visa versa. Knowing that, would you change your mind? Would you select Yahoo or Windows Live? Since none of the contacts I need to communicate with are on services other than these, either of these will cover everything I need, but I'm just not sure which one is best. Thanks!
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#4
Facedown98

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Yes, I've seen a few addresses on Live that have Yahoo! names. What I'm referring to is the chat client itself. I think Windows Live Messenger has a better appearance, and also better reliability from the experience I've had with it. Yahoo! didn't work very well for me with audio and video, etc. Windows Live Messenger was easier and worked better. You might consider giving both chat clients a "test drive" for yourself, and find out what works best for you. Even just a one day trial would be good. Everyone's different, so it's hard for me to say what you would like about the program.
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#5
onedoller

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Yes, I would definetly say windows live messenger or yahoo. AIM probably has the most users, but in my experiences has been not the most reliable, and I have heard of viruses that can be contracted from it.
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#6
starjax

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I use MS messenger, yahoo, and icq. because of that I use Trillian. This allows me to have one application for all 3 clients. It has a nice, clean interface that is skinable. No advertising like the other IM clients.
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#7
mintchip

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Thanks everyone. I sure appreciate the input. I obviously will just have to try both. Is there a way to completely eliminate the advertising or just miminize it? I know that when you install Yahoo, you can do that to some extent, but I'm not sure about Windows Live, and I'm not sure it eliminates ads entirely. I never have ads with the old basic windows messenger, but as pointed out, it's not as good for other reasons.

Does anyone have any opinions on Skype? I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Edited by mintchip, 07 August 2007 - 12:08 AM.

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#8
starjax

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skype is a voice over ip product. Not exactly an IM.

Trillian is the only way to get around advertising. MS and Yahoo both have made it almost impossible to remove advertising from their clients.
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#9
stettybet0

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What about Pidgin?
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#10
Facedown98

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If you want to remove the pop-up advertisements, there will be a setting in your messenger preferences which allows you to turn the start page on or off at startup. As for little banner ads, I don't know of a way to remove the ads while still keeping the chat client.
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#11
mintchip

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I sure do appreciate all that input. My thinking with Skype was not as IM, but I've heard it has the best audio, and I have a few contacts that I'm going to need that for. How does the audio quality of Yahoo and Windows Live compare? Also, if I went with Trillion, then I could use Skype for voice, but it would be easier just to stick with one application, if possible.

Last question---why does my old windows messenger 4.7 have voice conversation listed as an option, yet everything I read says you cannot do that with it. I'm confused. And....the only other thought I have is that since it seems to work just fine for text chat, with absolutely "NO ADS", then why not just keep it for that? It seems to use very little resources, and is simple and efficient, although does not have a lot of extras. What is its main disadvantage? Thanks!

Edited to include -- I think one of the most obvious disadvantages of the old messenger is that it's not compatible with Yahoo. Is that correct? Is it compatible with MSN Live? It should be compatible with that one, but I haven't actually tested it. Does anyone know?

Edited by mintchip, 09 August 2007 - 06:31 AM.

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#12
mintchip

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What about Pidgin?

I just went and checked out Pidgin and it looks good.. Does it have voice? Unless I missed it, I didn't see that mentioned. How reliable is it? How does it compare to Trillian?
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#13
stettybet0

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I'm not sure if it has voice... I don't know how you would rate the reliability of a program like this, but it doesn't disconnect you often or anything like that. And I'm not sure how it compares to Trillian, as I've never used Trillian. Why not try it for yourself? What harm could that do? If you don't like it, just uninstall it.
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