August 4, 2008

Long Distance Call

AIM missing the mark? Yahoo! lost its pep? Been crapped on by Pidgin?
(I've got about seven more of those, each higher up on the pun scale than the last)
Well, whether you are dissatisfied with your IM client or not, Digsby can do a lot to clean up your crowded desktop and lighten the load placed on your internet browser. After an easy five minute installation Digsby rounds up your GMail, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Jabber and ICQ data and incorporates it all into one client that allows you to chat with fellow GMailers, Facebookers, and anyone on your IM buddy list all without opening a web browser. It also notifies you when you receive e-mail, get a new wall post or get tagged in a photo. With more reach than Meebo or Pidgin, Digsby can be as comprehensive or as unobtrusive as you'd like. Each chat client connects separately and every type of notification can be blocked. Also, unless you change the default settings, it has no irritating blurps, beeps, door slams, "uh-ohs" or typewriter noises.

Here's an unusually fitting example of one of the pop-up windows telling me that Brad is sending me a message via GMail Chat. These windows linger for just a couple seconds to tell you what's new and, if they are indicating a newly received message on chat, they give you the option to reply in the pop-up itself.

The finished product looks something like this.
If you are obsessed with density of information, Digsby is where it's at. For me, and for my Frankenstein of a computer, having every chat, e-mail and social client running at once is a bit much, but Digsby always gives you the option to see more or less depending on your preferences and legal restraining orders.

Digsby is free for now, but only available for Windows.

This post brought to you by Brad's incessant pestering.

3 comments:

Bradley Frank Osborne said...

Wow, Digsby is sweet.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a freeware version of Trillian Pro. As I don't use most of those services, I'll stick with Trillian Cheap Bastard's Edition. Plus, Tillian links relevent words in IM to Wikipedia, which is awesome.

Z said...

I used Trillian for a long time and liked it, but upgraded (in my mind) to Meebo which was handy since it was web-based and that was convenient at the time. Digsby is really only an upgrade when you're taking advantage of all or most of its services. For me GMail Chat and Facebook was what made it a keeper.