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Pidgin vs Trillian
October 02, 2024 | Author: Adam Levine
0★
Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a multi-platform instant messaging client. It provides the ability to have voice/video conversations using the XMPP protocol (including Google Talk). Further features include support for themes, emoticons, spell checking, and notification area integration.
Pidgin and Trillian are both instant messaging clients, but trying to compare them is a bit like trying to decide whether you’d rather have a cup of tea or a teleportation device – both are excellent in their own way, but they approach the business of chatting to people in very different manners.
Pidgin, for instance, is open-source, which means it’s the sort of thing that invites the kind of people who like to tinker. It supports an impressive range of chat protocols – AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger and so on – all of which sound like names of particularly eccentric interstellar corporations, but are really just various ways humans communicate. Pidgin prides itself on being light, customizable and – this is important – secure. With encryption and a fine collection of plugins, it allows users to take a casual chat and turn it into an encrypted, multi-account juggling experience with about as much drama as programming a VCR (but far more useful). It’s the choice of people who like their messaging clients like they like their Swiss Army knives: functional, adaptable and with the ability to impress other nerds.
Trillian, on the other hand, is a bit more like the kind of sleek, modern spaceship that Zaphod Beeblebrox might favor. It’s unified – the word itself makes it sound quite grand, as if it’s in charge of the entire universe of chat. It seamlessly syncs your chat histories, themes and files across all your devices, so you can start complaining to your friends on one device and finish on another without a single interruption. Trillian is all about being user-friendly and shiny, emphasizing synchronization, cloud services and the kind of customization that doesn’t make you want to throw the computer out the nearest airlock.
See also: Top 10 Business Messaging platforms
Pidgin, for instance, is open-source, which means it’s the sort of thing that invites the kind of people who like to tinker. It supports an impressive range of chat protocols – AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger and so on – all of which sound like names of particularly eccentric interstellar corporations, but are really just various ways humans communicate. Pidgin prides itself on being light, customizable and – this is important – secure. With encryption and a fine collection of plugins, it allows users to take a casual chat and turn it into an encrypted, multi-account juggling experience with about as much drama as programming a VCR (but far more useful). It’s the choice of people who like their messaging clients like they like their Swiss Army knives: functional, adaptable and with the ability to impress other nerds.
Trillian, on the other hand, is a bit more like the kind of sleek, modern spaceship that Zaphod Beeblebrox might favor. It’s unified – the word itself makes it sound quite grand, as if it’s in charge of the entire universe of chat. It seamlessly syncs your chat histories, themes and files across all your devices, so you can start complaining to your friends on one device and finish on another without a single interruption. Trillian is all about being user-friendly and shiny, emphasizing synchronization, cloud services and the kind of customization that doesn’t make you want to throw the computer out the nearest airlock.
See also: Top 10 Business Messaging platforms
