I use Instant Messaging (IM) all the time. I use IM to speak with collegues and contractors in different time zones and different countries. My biggest problem is that there is no "one" standard for instant messaging. There are services from Yahoo!, MSN, and AOL not to mention the more generic ICQ.



I got tired of having all those instant messaging clients open and operating all the time. I got tired of having to update all 4 clients to the latest versions, etc.

Then I had an inspiration! I was looking at my personal printer in my office - it's one of those all-in-one appliances. You know the kind: it acts as a printer, a copier, a scanner and fax machine all in one physical device. Using an all-in-one has helped me to save a great deal:

Saves money. There is only one brand of toner or ink to buy

Saves money. I didn't have to waste money buying 4 different kinds of machines

Saves space. Who has the space to have all those specialized machines?

Saves time. I can print the document, put it in the scanner, fax and file the paper copy within 30 seconds.

Saves frustration. I don't have to deal with 4 different sets of drivers, 4 different manufacturers, 4 of anything!

I wondered if there was something like that for chat? It turns out - there is! There is one product that can organize all of your chat protocols under a single program. Best of all - it's FREE.

"OK - what is it?" you're asking. It's a program called "Trillian."

After discovering this really fantastic product - I was leary of downloading it. Why? Because it's free and I didn't want to be slammed with a virus, worms, spyware, adware or any of the dozens of "malware" that can wreak havoc on my computer.

Luckily, I have a spare computer that has sacrificed itself to test these kinds of things out. The maker of the software claims that there is no adware or spyware - but I wanted to see for myself. After some exhaustive testing - they were right - NO spyware, NO adware, NO malware whatsoever!

Once I was up and running - it was easy to import all my MSN, AIM and Yahoo contacts into Trillian. I could even import my ICQ contacts as well! Setup was easy, importing was easy - now there was just one other thing I wanted to know - would it really work?

The answer is YES, it works extremely well. When you launch the program, you can tell it what service(s) you want it to log into on startup, and then it shows a list of your buddies by service type. You can expand lists by service type, add new buddies with a couple of clicks.

When you receive a message from someone - that message appears in a tabbed window by servcie name. For example, if I got a message from someone on AIM, it would appear in an "AIM" window with the name of the buddy in a tab. That way if more than one AIM person wanted to chat with me, I don't have lots of different windows open at the same time - just a single window with multiple chat sessions going. Simple idea, but BRILLIANT.

If you don't like the way the program looks - you can download free "skins" for it. A "skin" is a different set of graphics that changes the look and feel of the program. There are a couple of dozen to choose from - allowing you to give your application a look to match your personality and the way you like to work.

On TOP of all this functionality - trillian even provides for video chat (free), audio chat (free), keeps a history of your chats, has different plug-ins that allow you to link music weather and more to a contact, and more.

I know what you're thinking - "OK - but how much is it?" FREE. Nothing. Nada.

There is a "Pro" version that is $25 that allows you to get 1 year tech support, 1 year of upgrade protection (you get all versions free), access to patches and fixes, and a member-only forum. You should TRY it out for free to see if you like it - and if you don't want or need the extra features in the "Pro" version - then stick with the free version until you do. You can upgrade at any time.

On Eric's scale of 1 to 5 (5 being best) Trillian and Trillian Pro definately score a 5 out of 5! If you use IM, you NEED this program!

You can download your free copy from: http://www.trillian.cc