Jump to content

Talk:Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ModusOperandi (talk | contribs) at 05:20, 22 June 2006 (→Xfire?). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Missing clients

Addons

OK, there are a few things to work out, and maybe I should wait till this gets through VfD before I put too much work into it (one of the slightly slef-fulfilling things about VfD, that); but the one that most confuses me right now is what was intended by the word "addons" as a feature. Currently, IRC is listed as "maybe" and Jabber as "no"; does this mean extra plugins for the client that create new behaviour both sides? In which case, I'd say both are "yes" - examples include secure conversations over Jabber, and whiteboards that share vector graphic information via IRC.

Perhaps it would be more useful to actually list some of the addons available for each client / protocol (that's the other big niggle: we need to decide whether we're talking about protocols or clients, here; perhaps the multi-protocol client-only programs like Trillian et al should be moved out to a seperate table, to avoid a proliferation of "N/A"s) -

IMSoP 16:57, 18 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I'm thinking of fixing it... :-) squash 22:18, Sep 18, 2004 (UTC)

VFD - Comparison of instant messengers

This article WAS listed for VFD... but saved by a group of brave supporters to KEEP this article. See: Wikipedia:Votes_for_deletion/Comparison_of_instant_messengers. Because of this I've removed the VFD message from the article.

Clients versus protocols

I still think this table would make more sense if it were restricted to protocols, rather than having apples-and-oranges comparisons with things like GAIM and Trillian. We could easily fill up a whole table with those, with more relevant questions, but concentrating on protocols here would allow us to fudge fewer rows, and give us room to add other protocols we haven't listed yet, such as Gadu-Gadu, and maybe Lotus Sametime... - IMSoP 17:58, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I've seperated it squash 03:17, Oct 2, 2004 (UTC)

asynchronous message relaying (on client offline)

a subject that is rarly covered on instant messangers as there are emails for real async communication. but imho its important for conveniance as one might not check email that often ..

in my experiance only yabber, icq, and irc (with memoserv) support this feature where aim, msn, yahoo fall short ..

thought of this eventually as another feature line!! ..

AIM and ICQ

Last time I checked, AIM is fully compatible with ICQ (since version 5.2, I think it was), and the latest versions of ICQ are skinnable...but correct me if I'm wrong. --Evice 23:15, Nov 26, 2004 (UTC)

Last time I've checked, AIM 5.5 for Mac is a Mac OS 9 application. There is no Mac OS X application for AIM at the moment, which is - in my sense - important to notice. -- Yannick G., 11 Fev 2005

Specialist program?

What's the meaning of "specialist program" vs "non-specialist program"?

From context, I gather it meant they only supported a single protocol - I've changed the article to make this clearer (or, I hope that's clearer...). - IMSoP 17:36, 12 Dec 2004 (UTC)

More protocols

Adium (and probably other LibGaim based programs) support more protocols than on the chart.

Gadu-Gadu, Yahoo Japan, Zephyr, Napster

There are lots of protocols out there, but most of them are rarely used. I ran across this page that shows the estimated market penetration of the different chat networks (scroll down about half way)
Perhaps we should agree on a cut-off point here... if a network is under 2% or 5% market penetration, then it wouldn't be popular enough to be added into the table, and the specific information could be placed on the specific wiki page describing that IM network... and under the tables, there could be something akin to "Less common networks: " and the putting links to those wikipages.
thoughts? Lockle 09:15, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I think we should keep just AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! and Jabber. Other protocols are just too minor, and IRC is not an IM protocol. IRC should be compared in "comparison of IRC clients". --minghong 15:36, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

what about YSM

ok its not so widespread but as a ascii text based client it seemes the best available.Lichtkind 01:04, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I can't find anything that suggests that YSM can do video or audio, yet it is listed as doing them. I haven't used it, so I could be wrong... but I can't find any mention of it having these features on the website. I'm changing the article. If you believe I'm wrong, please check and then correct the article. James Foster 15:07, 1 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unicode Support?

Would like to see if Unicode support (Multiple languages, e.g. Japanese, English, Korean, support without changing locale.) mentioned, thanks!

skype-support

See Comparison of instant messengers#Network_support

According to the list, Miranda can support Skype with a plugin. But it only works when Skype (the real one) is installed and running on your computer.[1] I do not call that support for Skype. --Walter 00:25, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I have removed the listing of support for skype --Walter 16:12, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Nice effort, but horrible comparison

First, the terminologies is wrong/inconsistent. The first table says "multi-protocol"/"single-protocol". But in the comparison of protocol, the title is "network support". The current table of "protocol" (at the end of page) should be itself an article, e.g. comparison of IM protocols. That table shouldn't be added here in the first place. --Minghong 11:11, 12 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"direct connect" under features?

gaim never works.  :-) - Omegatron 01:07, Mar 16, 2005 (UTC)

encryption?

no mention of this in the comparison, yet it is a major issue. I hear trillian has some form of encryption, and adium is adopting the otr (off the record) protocol for its .8 release, would be a nice area to cover here.

I agree that talking about encryption would be a good thing to add, but it might take some brainstorming before it's integrated into the table. Lots of IM clients offer encryption, but they typically do not work with OTHER clients. Would there be a way to show that fact?
Maybe instead of just having the column say "encryption", title it "encryption with" and the cells would say what IM programs it supported encryption with. if it is a propriatery, the the programs own name would be the only entry in the cell.
Just one idea I'm tossing out there. Anyone know of another way to put this level of information into the tables without overwhelming the readers?
Lockle 09:09, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Hello?

Hi everyone.

I use a Mac, so I have not tried Google's "Hello" program. That program which they bundle with Picasa 2 for easy photo sharing/discussion etc.

Does Hello use it's own IM protocol, or does it piggy back one of the other major protocols? From the www.hello.com site, it seems to use it's own. Would that mean that it deserves an entry in this page?

Looking through this page, I wonder if the entries look oddly classified.

Userbase?

Any ideas what the estimated or know usersbases for each of these networks/protocols/programs are?

I second that. A really important piece of information for a good comparison is how many users each network supports.
Here's what I was able to find by poking around on wikipedia's various pages for some of the chat clients.
AIM: 195 million
Skype: 70 million
QQ: 150 million

Toolkit?

As long as the IM is available to a platform, I don't think the implementation detail is important (except GNOME vs KDE), e.g. as long as it works in Windows, I don't care if it use Qt, GTK+ or MFC... --minghong 20:26, 23 Apr 2005 (UTC)

AIM/TOC differences

I would like to point out that most of the AIM clients written actually go through the TOC network, which is compatible, but more limited than Oscar. (can't view an oscar user's away message, etc.) For example, the official AIM client and gaim use Oscar, but CenterICQ and naim use TOC. Does anyone want to look into the rest of the clients?

Features: Encryption, Toolkit issues

Some inconsistencies and issues I noticed on the Features table:

  • Themes/Skins: Both Gaim and Kopete say 'Yes' for this, but Psi and Skype do not. AFAIK the only theme facilities in Gaim and Kopete are those provided by the GTK+ or Qt toolkits, which can also be used with Psi and Skype (on Linux). Either all GTK+- or Qt-based clients should say 'Yes' or all should say 'No' with exceptions being programs that have their own theme system separate from/extending that of the toolkit.
  • BitlBee's toolkit is 'IRC'. This shopuld probably be 'N/A' or something, since it is a server and doesn't use any toolkit.
  • Gaim/OTR encryption: Adium incudes a footnote about OTR encryption; Gaim should also have a not about the OTR plugin.
  • Qt/KDE toolkit: all Qt-based clients have the toolkit listed as 'Qt/KDE' or 'KDE/Qt'. The reference to KDE should be removed since KDE is NOT a toolkit.
  • Skype toolkit: Does skype use Qt on all platforms, or just Linux? I've never used the Windows version myself, but there are some small GUI features that are missing from the Linux version that look like they would be easy to port if the Windows version also used Qt, which suggests that the windows version uses the native Win32 toolkit.


==>Features: Third Party Add Ons
FIY: The Gaim row's last cell, Third Party Add On's is Green but has "No" in it. Looks like a mistake to me!
--tathra 01:42, 14 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

GAIM and win98

I noticed that GAIM is listed as working on windows without any exceptions. It might be worth noting that GAIM does not currently function on win98 systems due to a bug in the current version of GTK. --Randolph 06:59, 15 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Sorry about the Microsoft being changed to MicroSuck thing, btw. I'm running Privoxy on 'adventurous mode' and its replacing the text when I edit. I've fixed the configuration on the text replacements to not use this filter on wikipedia now. --Randolph 02:12, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

GPLv2?

Why does mICQ's license listed as GPL v2 versus simply GPL (simply GPL implys GPL version 2)? I am removing it. If the person who put that there wants it back, please explain here. — SirNuke (talk)

first, please sign your messages. second, there are earlier versions of GPL, so "GPL" by itself does not imply GPL version 2. I shall go put that back now, and also add it for Adium (which is also GPL version 2). — boredzo (✍) July 7, 2005 07:26 (UTC)

NETMEETING

whats is msn netmeeting??? WiseSabre 21:04, 7 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

References

This one may be useful: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-9237_7-6243313.html --minghong 09:14, 15 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Limitations

Could someone add something on the limitations imposed by each client? For example, I believe the Yahoo client limits the number of contacts to 300. AlistairMcMillan 14:47, 24 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Dockability

what do you think about putting dockabilty into the Features table, it's a decisive feature for me in the choice of a messenger, i don't like MSN because it's not dockable, same for gaim, IM2... i've tried'em to get away from trillian, but I can't use a messenger tha isn't docked in my screen. --TigerTjäder 23:15, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

Scripting Languages

Another column on the Features table that would be useful information would be which scripting languages are supported by each client (though I suspect "None" would be the answer for most of them).

Edit - A quick homepage search of each client shows only the following ones with scripting languages: 

Adium: AppleScript

Gaim: Perl

mICQ: TCL

Miranda - PHP via plugin

Tkabber - TCL

Memory Footprint

Test: Contact list has loaded, 4 IM windows open. Two outgoing messages per window. I'm only testing cross-protocol IM clients. You may wish to add more data. MPowered 09:51, 5 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

ClientName Version Footprint Range Notes
trillian Basic 3.1 build 121 3,000K - 7,304 - 15,000K Basic has small round buddy icons (no individual pictures). Garbage collection appears to occurs with IM windows closes and other events.
trillian Pro 3.1 build 121 5,664 - 34,000K 34MB was with "show picture icons" on. Smaller 5MB-17MB readings were with pictures
gaim 1.5 stable 17,000 - 20,224 2 of 4 accounts would not sign on. ICQ and AIM logged in, but MSN and Yahoo failed. GAIM displays a generic or status icon, plus an individual picture. Reductions in Mem Usage below 20,000 did not occur over over 15 minutes of testing, despite window closes and other events.


On Gaim: That reduction in memory usage below 20,000 does not occur, is probably because it loads gtk+ into memory (assuming it was run on Windows, but this may apply to other operating systems) and it's very much static, IMO.
-Mardus 00:39, 18 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Cleanup needed

This article is in severe need of cleanup. The tables lack encyclopedic context — what encyclopedic information does this article provide? Is it a subpage of instant messenger? If so, consider adding {{main}} or {{details}} to provide appropriate tone.

The information may or may not be up to date, and some of it seems more like advertising than encyclopedia. How is the presence of working features in specific clients being verified, and the lack of certain features from specific clients? Is the latest stable version number really important in the big scheme of things? And, most importantly, does the price belong in an encyclopedia, given that prices are subject to change? —donhalcon╤ 19:50, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

As I replied on another talk page, none of the Category:Software comparison articles are really sub-pages. They have been treated as encyclopedic as stand-alone entities. However, this aricle could benefit from a rewrite of the short introductory paragraph.
Most of the info seems up-to-date, but perhaps you can offer suggestions for insuring it is kept updated? Perhaps a release data on the version which is listed in the comparison? I don't think this seems like advertising & the lack of external links reenforces that. The presence or absence of features may easily be determined from the product documentation. The version number IS important, in the context of how up-to-date a row might be. The price, like any other feature, is a notable point of comparison & can easily be verified/updated if they do change. --Karnesky 20:17, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The lack of external links does help; product documentation is very useful in regard to features, but it's not referenced here which makes facts very difficult to check, and product documentation isn't as reliable as we'd like it to be. For example, Gaim has claimed to have file transfer for years, but in my experience it almost never works; some 3rd-party verification would be good. As for version numbers, I can understand how a version number can be an indication of how current the row is, but it seems useful for less-common clients only if it has a date. —donhalcon╤ 20:43, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
There is such a thing as "too much citation" & we should avoid that for comparison pages. Gaim's file xfer works fine (and we should take documentation at face value, unless there is evidence to the contrary (though your or my evidence of it not working or working is not sufficient & would constitute OR). To maximize verifiability and minimize advertising, I think we should have as many blue links (and as few red or external links) as possible & the relevant external links can then be in the pages for each individual product. In other words, instant messenger isn't really the main article, but all of the individual instant messengers serve collectively as a sort of main article for this "comparative summary." --Karnesky 21:24, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That makes sense, as long as the documentation is linked somewhere; it needs to be added for the red-linked entries, though. —donhalcon╤ 21:45, 7 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

All Jabber Clients get SMS support via SMS transport

so I guess Partial with note is needed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messengers#Advanced_conferencing as done above for AIM/MSN/ICQ support for Jabber clients etc

New Version of Gaim

I've noticed from their website that Gaim have just released version 3.0.0, How do I go about changing this in the table? I ve looked at the source, but it only says " 1.5.0 (August 12, 2005) [±]". Lucas42 00:46, 30 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Their website shows that the stable release is 1.5, while their new beta of version 2.0.0 is at beta 3. They might have a 3.0.0 branch (which is probably in early development), but this is an assumption, because I don't know of anything related to their possible 3.0.0 version, while 2.0.0 is still in beta.
-Mardus 00:50, 18 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Jabber clients can also connect to xfire and Sametime

There are Jabber transports for xfire and Sametime, so you can connect to these networks also using any Jabber client.

Splitting this comparison

What about splitting this big page into Comparison of IRC clients (already existing), Comparison of MSN compatible clients, Comparison of ICQ compatible clients, Comparison of Yahoo! compatible clients, Comparison of multi-protocol chat clients, and so forth...otherwise I predict that this page will grow to more than 100kb (most Jabber clients are not yet compared, for example, this may be more than 20 additional clients to compare...). Other reason: you cannot really compare chat clients that use different protocols. It is a bit like comparing apples with oranges. There also can be a page Comparison of instant messaging protocols. NaturalBornKiller 00:31, 3 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

What about MS Office Excel? There is only a spreadsheet for openoffice 1

What about making the spreadsheet at the top MS Office Excel instead? Then everybody can read it. Isn't open office compatible with MS Office, but not the other way around? I will convert it if you want. --NatovR 07:16, 27 May 2006 (UTC) Please reply on my talk page if possible.[reply]

Spreadsheet should be legible to all, & what about portability?

I agree that spreadsheets should be posted in a format anyone can read, but 

  what about portability?  Should indicate whether IM portable on USB Flash Drive.  U3?

Why not do it as comma-separated variables? CSV formats can be read by every spreadsheet I've ever seen... J-Deeks 17:19, 3 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I made a CSV file, how do I upload it? ModusOperandi 05:19, 22 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Xfire?

Should we include Xfire in the table? It's an IM client like any other. ModusOperandi 05:20, 22 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Comparison_of_cross-platform_instant_messaging_clients&oldid=59948152"