 Looking good: Gaim has a heavy graphical focus and can already show avatars in the buddy list |
 Miranda's search function is highly flexible and adapted to the features of each protocol |
Ideal for the Intranet
Since many companies block the majority of Internet ports, it is vital that an instant messenger permits ports to be changed at will, as otherwise they wouldn't work properly within the network. Miranda, Trillian, Gaim and SIM all allow the ports to be set manually for each protocol. IM2, on the other hand, only allows the user to specify a global port range for all networks, and Easy Message Express cannot be configured at all in this respect. All of the test candidates do allow connections to be made via a proxy server, and apart from Trillian and SIM, all allow servers to be specified individually for each protocol.On the PC Professionell test network, which has all but a few ports blocked, only Miranda and Trillian ran fine out of the box. Gaim struggled with MSN and Yahoo, and both Easy Message and IM2 could only connect to ICQ or AIM through the PC Professionell firewall. SIM crashed on start-up if no open DSL connection was available.
Secure connections
In order for a messenger program to be used on the company network where confidential data is discussed, secure connections are an absolute necessity.IM2 manages this handily: click on a checkbox in the options dialogue and it tries to create a secure connection for every chat session. There is a caveat to this simple and flexible method, however: there is no way for the user to tell whether or not the current connection is in fact secure. Things are better with Miranda, Trillian and Gaim, which all use plugins to handle their encryption, but their respective encryption methods only work if both parties are using the same messenger.
It is with this in mind that Jabber, an Open Source project started in 1998, created an open, flexible communication platform with gateways to other messaging systems, and last year, IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) adopted a slightly modified version of the Jabber protocol as the XMPP standard.
One of Jabber's major advantages is its vastly better security. With the big four, conversations are transmitted over central servers, where personal data about friends (buddy lists) is also stored. In contrast, the Jabber/XMPP protocol incorporates SSL encryption of messages at a server level, meaning that clients don't have to manage the security aspect.
In addition, the Jabber network consists of numerous decentralised servers that relay messages in much the same way as e-mail servers do. There is a list of servers at www.jabber.org/network, which also shows what functions are available on each. Many servers have gateways to AIM, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo, so if you are connected to one of these servers, you only need a Jabber client to chat with users on those networks. And because these gateways are set up on the server, there is no need for users to keep changing settings in their chat client if AOL, Microsoft or Yahoo make changes at their end.
The decentralised structure is itself another advantage, as a closed server group such as a company's employees and customers can run their own Jabber server, avoiding the need to use publicly-accessible servers to keep contact lists and hold conversations.
Thinking outside the box
Nevertheless, anyone for whom secure communication is an absolute must should look beyond such proprietary solutions and instead give consideration to the Jabber network and protocol, which is designed with encrypted messaging in mind, and in that respect should look for a Jabber-capable multi-protocol messenger. Easy Message and IM2 do not count amongst such, and in the case of Trillian, only the pay version, Trillian Pro, can connect to Jabber.You can find out more about Jabber in the boxout.
Expanding with plugins
Apart from Easy Message, all of the messengers tested here can be expanded using plugins. In the case of Miranda, the core plugins are simply the standard protocols, from AIM to Yahoo, but because Miranda's sourcecode is available under the GNU public license (GPL), the plugin format is freely available to everyone, which is why www.miranda-im.org plays host to more than 400 free plugins and over 700 individual customisations ranging from smiley packs to themes that change Miranda's appearance.Trillian, too, is plugin-enabled, but this is only enabled in the pay-to-use Pro version, and as is to be expected from a commercial program, there are nowhere near as many add-ons as for Miranda. Nevertheless, the download section of www.trillian.cc contains nearly 60 plugins and a dozen or so skins for changing the interface.
Gaim, which is also GPL software, can also be spruced up with skins and plugins, but despite the open API, the developer's website only contains six plugins, although two of these are for encrypted messaging between Gaim users. Smileys fare rather better, with some 60 themes.
With IM2, only the look of the interface can be changed - there is no way to expand the functionality using third-party modules. Simple Instant Messenger comes with a slew of add-ons as standard, such as a network monitor, which users just have to enable to use. However, the program's website contains no additional plugins.
Cross-platform adaptability
Anyone who uses a variety of computer systems ideally wants a program that is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Gaim and SIM take the plaudits in this category, as they are also available for both Linux and Mac OS. All the other clients are only available for Windows, although it should also be noted that Miranda is the only one that will also work on older computers running Windows 95.
Conclusion: the best IM for you
Instant messaging should be fun, which is why the easy installation and facile communication of the four original clients are at the top of the pile. In terms of compatibility, Trillian is head and shoulders above the rest: its integration of features is so well done that anyone chatting with a Trillian user via AIM's own client or one of the other proprietary messengers will scarcely be able to notice that they're not doing the same. Gaim, with its video functionality and Jabber support, comes a distant but creditable second; you have to pay for these features in Trillian.Miranda is also well worth a look, and is much more resource-friendly than either Trillian or Gaim. While the main distribution doesn't include complete functionality for all of the messaging protocols, the available plugins make up for a lot of what is missing and much more besides.
IM2 is a very good concept, but is still lacking in many areas, and it should be left alone until the teething problems have been worked out. Nor can we recommend the current version of SIM, as it crashed regularly during and ultimately refused to cooperate; a shame, because it has the most accessible interface and offers the most practical solution for the desktop.
As far as intra-company messaging is concerned, the only viable options are those that provide for encrypted messaging. If you don't want to use a Jabber client, which have integrated encryption but fare rather worse than the programs tested here when it comes to communicating with AOL et al., then your choices come down to Trillian, Gaim or IM2.
At just 256k, the super-slim Easy Message Express should be on everyone's USB drive; that way when you're on holiday you can chat at the net café and chat without putting your data on a public computer. Frequent crashes, however, mean it is not suitable for use in the long-term.
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