[magicbbird]

I have searched the forum, and it seems (to me) more people are using the chat clients from MS or icq (equals AIM?) rather than any 3rd party apps. Am I right?

I am still a PC user but am considering to switch once the newer models are announced. I wonder what would Mac users use for IM purpose.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[madmacgames]

I use iChat which is Apple IM client that you can use with a .Mac account or more commonly for us switchers (and possibly non-switchers) your AOL AIM account.

I also use MSN's mac client as a few of my friends are on MSN only.

[King Bob On The Cob]

I use the Adium 2.0 alphas as my day to day client.
http://www.adiumx.com/

There's also
Fire - http://fire.sf.net/
and
Proteus - http://www.indigofield.com/

[magicbbird]

I just find out about Adium, and it is a promising app for sure.

Most of my friends are using MSN, though, so either using MS's client, or if 3rd party provide better alternatives, why not?

I don't use ICQ that much anymore, sick of all the ads, and cannot remember my long long user ID...yet it is nice to have around, just in case.

Anymore?

[C.J. Moof]

Fire. All the protocols I need, with the ability to PGP encrypt my IMs with other PGP/Fire users.

Hey, just because I'm paranoid doesn't prove that they're not watching me.

[velodev]

Use Trillian... oops, you said you use a PC.

When you buy your Mac... try each one out and see which one you like. One thing to note that in Mac-land... installing apps is simply copying the package to the hard-drive. If you don't like it (hopefully there are no pref files), just move it to trash. Buh-bye.

I can't decide between Proteus (I hate the chat window) interface and simpleness of iChat. But, I am sure some people would completely disagree with my personal preferences.

Here's a perfect example...

WinXP - http://www.maxthemes.com/themes/macosxp.htm I am sure someone finds this attractive and uses this theme.
QNX theme - http://www.maxthemes.com/themes/qnx.htm I find this to be horribly wrong. I even think most of the Linux themes are horrible.

Milk -
http://www.maxthemes.com/themes/milk.htm IMHO, I find this to be a work of art.

[ryju]

I use the official apps, except AIM, yuck.

[MOTHERWELL]

I use iChat usually becuase I have an iSight, but I just installed the new AIM today. I like that I can set up a shared folder and share files easily, instead of actually sending the file (like iChat). But I like how iChat has a clean interface, and buddy pictures.

And the Milk theme is cool

[Sarc]

I use Proteus and every now and then I try the matest Adium beta.
For MSN specific features I use aMSN (file trasnfers, etc).

That's about it.

[Jim Paradise]

The original ICQ client is still my favourite IM application.

[thePurpleGiant]

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
The original ICQ client is still my favourite IM application.

[Jim Paradise]

Originally posted by thePurpleGiant:

Meh. I keep the sounds off, and I like its UI and features more compared to other applications plus most of the people I talk to use ICQ. There are certain things I like about iChat and use it for AIM (used to use Adium), but there are a lot of UI issues I have with it, and I'm not a fan of the "All-in-one" format of a lot of the other IM applications.