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210 Comments
- undauntedspirit, on 10/12/2007, -14/+44Or Gaim... the new beta rocks IMHO.
- cinemafreak, on 10/12/2007, -25/+53Trillian
- merreborn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28Trillian is just a hack to help users cope with a heavily fragmented market that's adopted a handful of different protocols. What we need is a standard, like we have for HTTP.
By way of analogy, imagine if AOL, Yahoo, Google, and MSN all had their own versions of HTTP, which required you to use a special browser. A 3rd party, multi-protocol browser would be a way of coping with things, but having everyone standardize is so much more elegant and efficient.
Google's client is based on an open, standardized protocol -- jabber/XMPP. Honestly, users of AIM/Yahoo/MSN should migrate in that direction -- A/Y/M won't make the change on their end because they wouldn't be able to lock you in to their proprietary clients.
Users need to decide to abandon the messager wars altogether, and choose standardization. Proprietary protocols only benefit big companies. - Rice, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29We're talking about protocols, not clients, boys.
- SpikeX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19AIM and Google. AIM has the large user network, and Google has the smarts to manage it.
- diskopo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Adium is what Trillian needs to look at and emulate. It's pretty much the Anti-Trillian. Transparency, consistent updates and dialogue with the users. That's a GOOD thing.
- cybernetic798, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I think this is about the protocol/service and not the client guys. Trillian is not a service of its own, it is a client that can connect to other existing ones. In any case,
The thing is it is hard for people to switch without convincing their friends to switch, who in turn need to convince their friends, etc. I have been wanting to leave AIM since I like MSN and Yahoo's clients better and because yesterday I got pissed off at AIM's strange behavior - ppl kept gettin disconnected, and most were able to reconnect within half an hour (during that time it just wouldn't let you sign on, though it seemed like it did the password check perfectly). However, I wasn't able to connect for a whopping 3 hours. This was around 10PM-2AM Pacific time.
I know MSN and Yahoo have features the others do not, and I know that some of my friends are on both of those, so I'm going to try and wean myself off of AIM slowly. The other reason is that AIM just isn't very global....the name itself (AMERICA On Line) turns international students here away from using it (and hence most people outside of the US use MSN).
My two cents... - MikeyD, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Agreed. Trillian is kinda slow, but it has all of the features.
I would vote GAIM except that it still doesn't have the ability to put new IM windows in the background. Nothing like having an IM window steal the last half of the sentence I was writing in Word. Extremely annoying. It also doesn't save hyperlinks in its history. I'd say 90% of the time I go into my history is to find a URL someone sent me. - thejoka, on 10/12/2007, -18/+27Gaim
- tapo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9You should care, seumas. Google has not only backed Jabber with Google Talk, but Google Talk's success could finally lead to the adoption of standards-based IM protocols.
- MiamiGuy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12Good point, but Trillian needs to start doing something to get more attention. Seems like it's been dead for a while.
- MikhoohkiM, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Skpye anyone?
- lightn899, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6someone should make a world map/graph and somehow plot the IM popularity throughout the world. Now that would be an interesting map.
- MiamiGuy, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11I'm all up for MSN+Yahoo. Are those latest figures just in America or throughout the world? As far as I'm concerned msn and yahoo are more world known than AIM and Gmail/GTalk seems to have only picked up here in the US, not sure about asian countries. With MSN now coming out with their new Live services including Windows Live Messenger and the new look for Live Mail (AKA hotmail) they are bound to get a lot of attention and I think that will reflect on the figures of people using their products.
- mzhao, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Seconded. If Google and AOL merge their user bases together and find a way to make the Google Talk client work with both services, I'm all for it.
- viii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Everyone I know is on aim, maybe it's a regional thing.
If google talk and aim/icq/.mac's networks combine, there will be much rejoicing. - incurable, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I think msn sometimes just too functional to me . Those buttons make the 8.0 beta ugly.
- Pixellore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6One word: Meebo
It's fantastic and so simple to use. I can't wait for more features in the future. I can access all my IM accounts without bogging down my system with crappy bloatware. Congrats to the Meebo team for a great product. - Sarkoon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Who will win? Jabber of course. It's the only ITEF approved standard instant messaging protocol on the internet today, and with Google's recent adoption and server interoperability, it's gaining momentum very quickly.
It may take 5 years, but I have confidence that it will eventually become the dominant chat protocol. - dotwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I read the first few comments, then was slightly suprised to see someone just say "Jabber".
It's a shame, because Jabber is excellent - it's community supported, you can set up your own server to add particular features, route other protocols through it, it's an excellent tool. However, the fact is that people don't care.
They really don't - you could give someone every feature they could possibly want, make it work 10 times better, let them customise it, give them a choice of clients - and still in the end they'll go where the contacts are.
What I find in the real world, is that 99% of my friends use MSN, and the rest use AIM. Some use it through Gaim (they are Linux users mostly) and the occasional one uses Trillian.
At the end of the day, I have a jabber account @jabber.org, but I don't have any contacts. Not one - and that's because those people that say "yeah, I have Jabber" also say "but you're more likely to get me on MSN".
Such a shame - because Google had the opportunity to bring Jabber to the masses, and they ***** up. What a shame. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Why would you want that?!
Jabber protocol with whatever the ***** client you want. - MikeyD, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Rice, I understand that we are talking about protocols. I believe what cinemafreak was trying to get across was something like 'I could care less about the different protocols/networks. Trillian allows me to communicate universally across them.'
At least thats what I got from his single word post :) It's sorta off topic, but a good point none the less. - Misos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Adium really is a great application. This is one thing Windows-only users are missing out on.
- albrad84, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Hopefully: Jabber
Probably: AIM / Google
If aim is allowing for new clients, I don't see why they don't just go ahead and make it compatible with jabber, which would essentially create a ton of new aim clients overnight and make a lot of people very happy - NicP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It is a regional thing, in aus everyone is on msn messenger
- generalleoff, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Trillian and Gaim don't count They run off 3rd party networks like AIM and MSN and thus are totally at the mercy of those networks. Take the big networks offline and you will kill Trillian and Gaim at the same time.
Though I guess one can argue they would survive under Jabber and IRC. Still without a dedicated network of there own they don't count. - salmonmoose, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I'm from Australia - mind you, when google talk was released here, it made the evening news. Working in an IT company, we've mostly switched to GoogleTalk / Jabber. I love having my chat's logged to my gmail account, it's been useful more than once :)
- punkdigerati, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7How about Google+Aim+Yahoo... I would love a GAY messenger
- weiran, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4In the UK, MSN will definatly win. Hardly anyone uses AIM, and if they do, they'll use MSN too.
To be honest, I want Google to win, although it's not going to happen. Google's IM network seems the fastest and most relaible to me. It also connects the fastests. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12Trillian isn't an IM protocol.
- ToadX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Google and Yahoo aren't really major players. Even though Yahoo can claim so many users, there aren't many people that solely use Yahoo. Most of the people that use Yahoo also use MSN or AIM. However, many MSN or AIM users only use one service.
- frem001, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The situation in the rest of the world is different, most people use msn. when i mention AIM they think i'm talking about the hip hop group
- tapo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Personally, I love GTalk. It uses up very little RAM, it doesn't crash, it's not as eye-straining as AIM or MSN, and the keyboard shortcuts are just brilliant. Plus, I can use whatever client I want without fear of retribution (I remember the week where Cerulean Studios had to release five patches in a row, due to AOL shutting Trillian out.)
The only problem is the lack of users. If AIM opens up to GTalk, or better yet, to all other Jabber servers, then instant messaging would finally start being useful. - TravisL, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I am in college and every person I have ever come into contact with uses AIM. This generation grew up with AOL accounts and at this point, will never change. I think the only ones using msn and yahoo are the buisnesses and adults. As the younger generation grows, they will continue to use AIM. My 2 cents.
- cphuntington97, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Second on the "IM popularity map" idea...I am *very* curious - anyone that can set this up, please do, and link here... I'll digg it.
- Unt0uchable, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3here's my theory. MSN/Yahoo will win because they have major control in areas other than the US and their client is better than the AIM/GoogleTalk alternative (I havent tried Triton, but I heard it bogs down your system. Gaim is awesome for Aim, but it isnt well known). But AIM can still come back, and never count Google out.
Also, since people mainly use the instant messagin service that their peers are using, once a company controls more than 2/3 of the market that company has won.
I recommend using Gaim and Meebo (a great app and a great site) for AIM, but thats just me. - staple, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://www.meebo.com
why leave the browser? - veracon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Directed to lots of people: It's NOT GAIM, it's Gaim.
- Blobster2005, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It annoying, but i would have like to see a MSN - Google talk (yea i know it would never happn) combo.
AOL / AIM has long been on the decline in the UK - we kinda got a bit stubborn of the fact we had to use the AOL Browser (which was big and chunky at the time) just to get online. I used to use it back in 1998 - but since 1999 have been AOL free along with an ever increasing number in the UK.
So yea, MSN will win hands down in the UK - All my friends basically use Google/Gmail and MSN IM... - HarryBauzonia, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Kopete wins (and Jabber and Gaim too). I can my use AIM, Yahoo, and MSN accounts with it. You windows boys don't know what freedom is.
- nosnhojm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You know...I wasn't able to understand the math in the article until you spammed it out for me.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Adium.
http://www.adiumx.com/ - Vokas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think msn will win, and that's fine by me, does everything i need and it's easy to use. You can also get messenger plus for some added features.
- hobophobe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2According to the article both Gtalk and AIM are going both ways with their clients (as far as being able to use one another's protocol). Since Gtalk uses the Jabber (XMPP) protocol, they'll both be Jabber compatible, which means theoretically Jabber wins. Of course, this may depend on the implementation.
Also, why no mention of ICQ? - Wheeler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why is google teaming up with AOL ?
- dotwaffle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I just fired up iChat for the first time on the Mac, it came with Bonjour - a really neat idea, it's own client for Mac, and Jabber built in - at least they've got the right idea - I'm constantly impressed by Apple, although they get slagged off a lot, I do have to admit that if I could prise myself away from Linux for calendaring etc, Apple would get my vote...
- BetaMark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2as far as clients go, as there has already been much discussion, Adium is enjoyably customizable. Since google has given me the best webmail account / email account I have ever used, I am excited that AOL may be interested in letting google handle their junk. I second the motion to avoid ms if at all possible.
- RastaMahata, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually, kinda the same thing happened before with mail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-mail
E-Mail received standard protocols, and there was much rejoicing. (yey)
I hope people accept XMPP as a standard IM protocol. The downside is that most IM users want to use webcams, play games against their friends, say what they're listening to, have a little image representing them (avatar), and who knows what else (audio, maybe). I dont think these features in an open prtocol anytime soon. - bigblueball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Did you read the article? The point isn't that AOL+Google or MS+Y! wins, but that it is forcing the entire IM industry to move towards interoperability. I believe that eventually it won't matter what program you use -- you'll be able to choose whatever you prefer. In other words, we (the consumers) win. And yes, that matters.
- idonthack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Wow. This many comments, and nobody has mentioned Kopete
http://kopete.kde.org -
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