Different options we can use to chat with our contacts from Facebook outside the browser

In the past few weeks, Microsoft has announced that Windows Live Messenger’s new version will support Facebook chat. This news has been received with enthusiasm by the fans of this social network. However, the service itself is not a novelty at all. There are client applications, like Digsby, Pidgin and Trillian Astra, just to name a few, that already do this.

One of the most common options when it comes to choosing an alternative messaging client is Digsby. A classic among social network enthusiasts, this application allows simultaneous access to Facebook, Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger chat rooms, among others. In addition, we can change the settings of its interface so that it connects us to other e-mail accounts and even watch the updates of our contacts, friends and followers, depending on the social network. Though not very complete, its interface is very organized and it separates the different services clearly. Its only drawback may be that we must register in order to use its services, although they are free.

Another program with which we can chat in Facebook without using the browser is Pidgin . This multi protocol client app doesn’t offer any functions beyond messaging. This characteristic makes Pidgin simple than the rest of the programs of this kind. Its interface is extremely simple and functional, though it offers different theme options. An advantage of Pidgin over other programs is that it enables us to set different types of commands and notifications according to the contact. For beginners, the fact that Pidgin doesn’t include Facebook chat installed by default can be considered a negative aspect. However, the add-on that enables it gets installed automatically.

Finally, Trillian Astra is a desktop application with which we can not only connect to Facebook chat, but also numerous social networks and messaging services. In addition, we can see the news of our wall and the messages we receive by e-mail. Trillian Astra enables us to carry out statistical studies about our friends’ connection trends and a conversation history. On the other hand, it has a modern interface, it includes numerous skins for us to choose and it organizes the conversations in tabs within the same window. Undoubtedly, the looks is a strong point of this application, although at first it may seem chaotic because of all the information it provides. As Digsby, Trillian Astra requires that you register.

As we have seen in this brief description, there is already more than one program that can do what Windows Live Messenger’s next version will do: chat in Facebook from our desktop. If we focus on managing the contacts only for chat, we will probably choose Pidgin . However, if we want to have extra functionalities and we want to combine the different social networks we may choose Digsby or Trillian Astra.

ICQ 7: now it’s possible to integrate different social networks

After being the first massive program of instant messaging 13 years ago, ICQ disappeared from the spotlight. As a matter of fact, it didn’t disappear, it just lost market to other programs of the same kind as Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Trying to gain prominence again, we find ICQ 7. The program counts with an updated and modern interface. As soon as we enter we find a series of eyelashes from where we can add contacts and do searches, see status updates and send SMS, apart from having on the top part a field to update our status.

This new version of the program not only lets us chat through its own protocol, but also integrates with different social networks like Facebook, Digg, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, being able to update our status directly from ICQ 7 and simultaneously.

To be able to synchronize with other 2.0 webs, after we registered and got our user on ICQ 7, in the event we didn’t have one before, we go to “Set up your feeds” and on the eyelash “My box” from which we’ll be redirected to a webpage in which we’ll need to enter our username and password. We’ll be able to see our contacts’ updates directly from the ICQ 7 window.

Furthermore, it counts with the traditional contact search that will allow us to locate contacts on the area we want, and start a conversation from the window of the program. ICQ 7 chat window looks very similar to the one of the last Windows Live Messenger versions. It has incorporated buttons for emoticons, to send files, change fonts and more. Moreover, we can also add an image as avatar apart from being able to see our contacts’.

Another remarkable improvement is the incorporation of the possibility to send SMS messaged from the same window of the program in a quick and simple way within a few clicks, being able to store the numbers of our contacts to easily access them again.

This way, ICQ 7, turning into a multiprotocol client, looks for the integration with other social networks, recover territory. If it’s true that there are other applications that perform the same task like Digsby, Pidgin or Miranda IM to name a few, it’s worth it trying the news of this old contender.

As it became known recently among off-the-record versions, the new Windows Live Messenger version will try to integrate itself with other social networks like Facebook or Twitter. What’s truth is that there are already other instant messenger clients like Digsby, Pidgin or ICQ 7 that perform this integration, although in different ways.
ICQ 7, the new version of the messenger that reigned during the end of the 90s and beginning of this century, incorporates apart from an updated and attractive interface, a support from which it’s possible to access to the notifications from Facebook, Delicious, Digg, Flickr, Twitter y YouTube. Apart from being able to carry on conversations through its own protocol, from the ICQ 7 window you can update the status of the social networks, in simultaneous or individually, as also upload photos. However, it doesn’t have any feature for the user to chat with his contacts, friends or followers from its own windows, and in some cases, this can be a little small to view the content of some of the social networks.

Who lets us do this is Digsby, which, as opposed to the previous one, doesn’t have its own protocol. Despite this, this program is a messenger client that has support for many protocols like Msn, Yahoo!, AIM, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, MySpace IM, Jabber and even ICQ.

Moreover, it lets us easily see the updates for the status, notifications and other publications from our contacts on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter. We can also see from its window the inbox from email services like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, AOL/IM Mail and from POP e IMAP accounts. Digsby becomes a very good option integrating a great amount of options on its window.

An application that started developing long time ago as a multiprotocol is Pidgin. It has support for a great number of instant messenger protocols like MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, AIM and IRC, to name the most popular ones. Apart from that, using an add-on you can also incorporate Facebook and publish on Twitter. Furthermore, it counts with many options to administer our contacts and conversations, with automatic messages, and other unusual options like the “psychic mode”, which is known as one of the bests on that aspect.

Without a doubt, the tendency that comes developing for years of integrating the 2.0 Webs with the instant messengers it’s going to be a highlight in a few months. We can follow this trend by using any of these programs, it can be Digsby, if what interest us the most is to have access to all the services on a single window, Pidgin, if we want to have probably the best messenger client as regards options without losing sight of the integration possibilities with other 2.0 webs, or it can be ICQ 7, if we go for an updated and attractive interface.