I personaly hate the company Microsoft(hopee the cant sue me for that some how) anyway i do however use there programs.....which is kinnda contredictary......but anyway.....Msn...although it does screw up alot as was just said........anyway back to the point........MSN...........
I like MSN's interface a lot better than everything else I've tried, although I probobly use AIM just as much.
Gaim. It's a multi messenger program like Trillian. Doesn't do anything fancy, which is how I like 'em. I really liked Miranda IM, it's even smaller, which I loved, but didn't use the right AIM protocol which was annoying. And tabs rock
Sigh... MSN. I hate Microsoft, but when I'm on my Windows box, it's just the best messenger! I tried Trillian and it does indeed have many features, but it's clumsy and annoying to use.
I didn't like Trillian when I had it. I'm more of an MSN girl... it looks better than AIM and all my international friends use it. Also, the smilies are better. I have AIM as well because more people have it, but I talk to people on it less.
GAIM. Its a great program that combines msn, aim, irc, and yahoo into one buddy list. You can specify aliases for every screen name...and so on and so on. Its much better than trillian, as trillian is riddled with spyware. I really suggest it to everyone. Its great. http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
Trillian Pro does not come bundled with spyware. I have various different scanners for anything malicious that you can think of, and none of them have picked up anything. I'm not very fond of the free version of Trillian, and it really isn't that hard to get a free version of Pro if you want it. For those of you who aren't happy with the interface of Trillian, then I would highly recommend you check out the skins available for it. That's what they are for...to make it look sexy.