SOFTWARE
The Gist: Instant Messaging Without Borders
Free
Oh, girl, do I like to gossip. And if I can do it at work, without making a peep or using company email, even better. My savior: instant messaging. Unfortunately, it's been hard to pick one application that works for me and my friends. Now, Trillian lets me chat it up with all my chums like never before. The program connects with MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, IRC, and ICQ.
The freeware took about 20 minutes to download over a 56K modem (it's currently PC-compatible only, but a Mac version is planned). During setup, I input all my usernames and passwords for the messaging apps I use, and Trillian connected me to each messaging service's server. My MSN buddy list automatically uploaded, but I had to find and upload my ICQ and AOL friends. Like other IM programs, Trillian opens a window that shows you everyone on your list and their status: online, away, out to lunch, et cetera. Double-click on a name and a new window pops up to host the conversation. A dialog script scrolls through the box so that you can reference previous points to prove your case during IM arguments. The company's site also provides 50 downloadable skins and the tools to design your own.
Do I have complaints? A few. You'll miss out on group conversations and the ability to transfer files like JPEGs or Word docs. And when chatting with your friends, their status won't appear in the conversation window. But these are all small sacrifices for the convenience of a multichatting app.
Trillian: www.trillian.cc.
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