Instant Messaging Pros/Cons for different clients

[aslauga]

I wrote this up because I was trying to decide which client to use, between Proteus, Adium and Fire. Then I figured I couldn't be the only user to have this dilemma. So here is my list. (I use MSN, Yahoo and ICQ)

Proteus

Pros:-
Didn't lose my entire MSN contact list grrrrrrrrr
Nicer interface
Nicer alerts
No annoying quack
Tells you which service your users are using
All messages tabbed on one window with cool little drawer feature
Yahoo works
Doesn't do weird things with the groups.
Can see when the other person is typing

Cons:-
MSN - half my contacts missing although they appear if they come online, but it does mean i can't edit my preferences for them until they do
Doesn't sync automatically with address book im field
Annoying registration nag thing when it's not quite non-buggy enough to justify registering
When I delete someone from my contact list they stay there
Icon quite ugly
Blocking someone doesn't really work
No scope for file transfers

Adium

Pros:-
OK so the duck is quite sweet and looks cute on the dock...
Syncs with address book automatically
Is free
Ok interface/alerts
All messages tabbed on one window - convenient esp. for exposé

Cons:-
Still an Alpha version so have to keep downloading a new version everyday, makes it buggy and unpredictable and I lost my contact list after the last download.
Can't figure out Yahoo at the moment.
Quacks.

Fire

Pros:-
Can have metal!
Everything seems to work really well - ie. non buggy
Shows which account everyone's in.
Heavily customisable
All accounts seem to work fine
Icon can show things like no. of contacts online
Free
Blocking works
Shows when contact is typing

Cons:-
Hate the 'Buddy' terminology. But thats a personal preference
No sync with address book
Not sure about interface
Weird thing with groups
Ugly icon
Haven't sussed out the display names yet
File transfers look as if they might work occasionally, but don't. At least there is scope for them though.
Less sophisticated message view


Anything to add? To be honest, I still can't decide!

 

[thinkofthestars]

No sync with address book

Wow, I've been having a problem deciding too, but this just cinched it. I don't know why you list this as a con, since this feature alone makes me want to use this client over the other. The synching bugged the hell out of me. I mean, my entire address book consists of only first names, because I don't want iChat listing first and last names and there's no way to give them an alias. I'm glad a program exists that doesn't sync.

Thanks for the list though, it helped a lot. I used Proteus for a very short time and didn't like it too much. Now that I see that it doesn't block properly, I'm definitely not using it. I block everyone who isn't on my buddy list and I would hate for that to not work.

 

[aslauga]

Wow, I've been having a problem deciding too, but this just cinched it. I don't know why you list this as a con, since this feature alone makes me want to use this client over the other.

As I said - it started out as a personal thing - personally I love the fact that people's pictures pop up when they log on. But I'm glad you found it useful!