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Adium X

Home Page Release Notes Screen Shots License:
Open source; $0

Current Version: 1.2.5 (April 29, 2008)

Adium X (Formerly Adium, a simple AIM clone) is an extremely nice multi-protocol instant messaging client for Mac OS X, supporting AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, and ICQ. If you're coming from the Windows platform, you can think of Adium as Trillian for Mac OS X. It is probably the most capable IM client for the Macintosh, with a huge number of available options to customize the application to your liking, and it's actively updated and free, to boot.

Versions 0.50 and later are the culmination of more than a year-long rewrite of Adium, which now utilizes libpurple (formerly libgaim, the core part of Pidgin) to connect to multiple protocols, and is also based on a new plugin architecture. Partial address book integration, "cool" looking tabs, multiple protocols for instant messaging, and a compact contact list are some of the many features of the new Adium X.

Version 1.2.5 adds/changes the following:

  • Fixed Yahoo! Japan connectivity
  • Fixed ICQ connectivity for some accounts with large contact lists
  • Improved rate limiting management for AIM and ICQ accounts
  • Fixed a longstanding bug in which contact list tooltips could appear while on a different Space (workspace or virtual desktop) or while the contact list is obscured by other windows
  • Fixed repeating / stuttering event sounds on G5 machines
  • Fixed display of chat transcripts which contain HTML codes in their content
  • Fixed negotiation of XMPP authentication over SASL when one mechanism fails but another can succeed, as when the server support GSSAPI, Adium is not authorized to connect via GSSAPI, but Adium has a valid username/password combination to use instead.
  • Fixed a crash when closing the Personal preferences immediately after changing your alias or display name
  • Fixed a crash when disconnecting an account which had previously received an authorization request
  • Fixed the 'Show received colors' preference to no longer determine whether we show received font size; this is now solely determined by 'Show received fonts'
  • Fixed default group chat conference settings for Google Talk
  • Fixed the User Icon toolbar button in chat windows when in text-only mode on 10.5
  • Fixed enabling/disabling of the Bookmark Chat toolbar button
  • Improved automatic linkification
  • Fixed the Messages preferences preview to display the correct font for outgoing preview messages
  • Fixed restoration of the message window's location when it overlaps the dock and has a visible toolbar
  • Fixed "Insert Link to Active Page" button for Camino 1.6
  • Fixed another bold/italics display issue
  • Fixed positioning of the push/pop/swap button in the text entry area of chat windows (seen when using control-up and control-down to manipulate the message stack)
  • Added an ID property for contacts accessed via Applescript
  • We now allow the # character in Jabber names
  • Fixed the Import from iChat button in the first run wizard
  • Fixed receiving of empty XMPP message stanzas
  • Danish, French, French Canadian, and Brazilian Portuguese translation updates

The online release notes for version 1.2.4 have more details.

User Reviews

"I just started using Adium and I love it. Tabbed chat! I have a few accounts and some overlap with friends who have accounts on the same servers. I am getting used to how they all appear in the contact list. When the novelty wears off I will probably turn off the quacking or change the sound. I like programs with a transparency option. For context, I have been using PSI for jabber lately. Before that Exodus. I have not got Yahoo to work yet. Might have something to do with .Ca vs .Com. I will keep trying."
—David Croal

"Thank youuuu! I have been stressing over my MSN for ages! Having to use crappy online ones because my MSN for Mac stopped working suddenly. Then stumbled across this and it's great! So thanks for a great programme! And no need for any changes - it's great as it is and changes seem to confuse my computer ... So annoying!"
—Georgia Alen

(Version 0.89.1) "A VERY NICE multi-service instant messaging client. I love the ability to download scripts, soundsets and UI extras and easily install and use them with zero hassle. I've found Adium quite stable and easy to use. It's certainly the most attractive IM client I've ever used and I like it's easy to use log viewer and file transfers a lot. The only thing I wish it did is Webcam support. I hate having to fire up Yahoo's awful OS X client just to use my Webcam. Yuck."
—Jamie Kahn Genet

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Download the Mac OS X (Cocoa / Universal) version.

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