Pidgin…no, not the bird, but instead a way to de-clutter your instant messaging software…one program=a plethora of possibilities.
THE BASICS-
What is Pidgin? What is instant messaging for that matter? Well, instant messaging is a form of real-time (or as close to real-time as possible) communication betwixt two people via the internet. There are a plethora of programs that are 100% free and enable you to instant message.
The first program to receive widespread love from the masses in regards to im’ng (instant messaging, henceforth im or im’ng) was AOL’s software, known as AIM (America Online Instant Messaging). Since many folks used AOL to connect to the world, they use the de-facto software to communicate with other AIM’ers.
Since then, many other software companies have followed suit…Windows Live, Yahoo, Google Talk, etc… but with one BIG problem…for the most part, you cannot easily talk to folks on another program. So, Yahoo’ers cannot converse with AIM’ers and so on and so forth. Enter Pidgin.
Pidgin (formerly known as GAIM) is an im’ng software that allows you to converse with all your friends no matter what chat software they have. So, for example let’s say Frank likes using the Facebook Chat, whilst Ariel uses AIM, and Greg uses Google Talk. With Pidgin, you can talk to them all from just one program…one interface…clean and simple.
HOW HARD IS IT TO USE ? -
Not hard at all. You will be required to create an account on all the various platforms before you can use Pidgin. What I mean is, Pidgin cannot create an AIM, Facebook, Yahoo, or Windows Live account for you…you already have to have created accounts for these programs before ever using Pidgin.
Then you can simply add these previously created accounts to Pidgin. For most accounts, you simply add your username and password and are done. To add things like Facebook Chat, it will take a few extra steps…which are not difficult at all. And that’s it! Once you add all your accounts, you can begin chatting with all your friends no matter what chat program they are using.
ARE THERE OTHER PROGRAMS BESIDES PIDGIN ? -
Yes, there are other programs that can do what Pidgin does…but for a variety of reasons I prefer Pidgin. It’s ease of use and ability to adapt to a cornucopia of im environments make it, I believe, the best choice for all your instant message needs. Pidgin can be downloaded here.
NERD ALERT! -
This just covers a few extra nerdy things you can do with Pidgin…if you are a regular user, there is no need to continue reading.
Pidgin has a command line option that allows you to run multiple instances or seperate instances of itself. This is great if you share a computer with, say, a spouse, but don’t want to waste the space to create an entirely new Windows User account.
All you must do is simply add a –c along with where you want the new user account and voila…a Pidgin clone. For example, one could add something like this to the end of a shortcut to Pidgin –c “C:\users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\.purple2” ; (since .purple is where the primary users data is located)
Dash m (-m) creates the multiple instance if you wish to run two pidgins at once. Dash mc (-mc) will allow you to run two instances under two different users should you ever desire or have the need to do this. LifeHacker has some great articles on Pidgin here as well.
