Best Jabber clients for Linux, Mac OS, and Windows

This is my personal list over best XMPP/Jabber instant messaging client for KDE, and Gnome on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows:

Best KDE (Qt) client: Kopete

Pros: Tiny memory requirements.
Cons: No support for GnuPG encrypted messages.
Does not remember all toolbar configurations.
Not a dedicated XMPP client.
High learning curve.
Conclusion: Kopete is the best option as there is no real alternates.

Best Gnome (GTK+) client: Gajim

Pros: Great support for GnuPG encrypted messages.
Best interpretation of the presence in XMPP.
File transfer seams to work more often, and transmit faster than with other clients.
Cons: Memory intense on startup.
Slightly higher learning curve than other clients.
Conclusion: Best use of the XMPP standard, and best GnuPG handling makes this the overall most usefull Jabber client.

Best Mac OS client: Adium X

Pros: More extensible than any other client, and more configurable than anyone could ever need.
Not a Mac friendly interface, but it still works quite well.
Cons: No support for GnuPG encrypted messages, and no other privacy options compatible with any other clients..
Slows down after installing a few extensions, and themes.
Default duck notification sounds are absolutely awful.
Not a dedicated XMPP client.
Conclusion: Adium is Firefox among instant messaging clients. Extendible, shippes stripped down, and slows down when you try to make it look good or to add features other clients have by default.

Best Windows client: Pandion

Pros: Follows up on all expectations on how a Windows application should work. Everything is where it is expected to be, and the interface is very intuitive.
Easy to configure.
Utilises tabs better than any of the other clients mentioned.
This is the most easy to use client use on any platform.
Cons: No support for GnuPG encrypted messages, and no other privacy option.
Does not follow up on the presence part of the XMPP standard.
Can feel a little emoticon happy.
Conclusion: Excellent for users already familiar with Live Messenger or Yahoo! Messenger. Even though it does not have any privacy options, this is the best alternate for Windows users.

« Important! News feed URL change | Home | Got the notebook, but had to go with openSUSE »

4 comments

pandion is best for those who do not have any proxy like TrafficInspector. the same with gajim. both of them lack proxy preferences, especially SOCKS5

Comment by Señor Altego at 2007-10-16 @596.

I think Gajim have the overall best features and experience. Too bad it is GTK+ and not Qt.

Comment by Daniel Aleksandersen at 2008-02-13 @762.

This blog entry is the most popular page as referred to from search engine result pages. Just a bit of random statistics! Traffic analytics still from FeedBurner.

Comment by Daniel Aleksandersen at 2008-04-17 @129.

hi,

i think, gajim is best for windows feature wise.I m using it and i have tried all others and finally got gajim at my work place.

best features are : history in sqlLite db file,History manager,broadcast and chat are easy.

Comment edited due to improper use of input forms for marketing reasons.

Comment by Parth Barot at 2008-06-26 @425.

Leave your comment

Related entries

Stay informed

Get a free subscription to new entries in the Open Source Notebook!

Navigation

Runbox

10 GB email storage,
1 GB file storage,
100 MB attachment limit,
your own domain,

...and more! Get your own premium email for just 49 USD per year!

Categories

Archives

The archive keeps a record of all entries that have ever been published! Have a look back in time, and see what was going on!

License

This blog entry text is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License. The license explained, and legal notes.