Windows XP Hacks

Universal Messaging: Trillian Unites AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, and ICQ

It’s the Esperanto of the Instant Messaging world; Trillian lets you communicate with all the major messaging programs.

I live, therefore I message. That’s the credo of not just teenagers everywhere, but also for people like me. I use instant messaging to keep in touch with editors, friends, and other authors, as well as readers of my books. And I frequently use it along with conference calls; while the larger group is speaking over the phone, I instant-message others in the phone conference to get background information and make occasionally less-than-flattering remarks about speakers who revel in the sounds of their own voices.

But as all instant message users know, there’s a big drawback to instant messaging: the major instant messenger programs, including Windows Messenger, can’t communicate with one another. That’s a bit like being able to make phone calls only to people who use the same brand of telephone as yours, but given the economics and ego that drives the instant messaging industry, that shows no sign of changing any time soon.

However, there’s a great workaround, and it’s free. The universal instant messaging program Trillian will let you communicate with users of with ICQ, Windows Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and AOL Instant Messenger as well as the old Internet chat standby IRC. You don’t need to install any of those programs; just run Trillian (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com), shown in Figure 8-21