Pidgin , formerly called Gaim, is a free instant messenger for Windows, Linux, BSD & Unix . Adium is a Pigdin version of instant messenger that runs on OS X .

You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MySpace IM & Zephyr .

Pidgin can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously .

This means that you can be chatting with friends on AIM, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time.

Pidgin is a multi-protocol Instant Messaging client that allows you to use all IM accounts at once.

Pidgin is free software & you can download it here . It is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

This means you are free to use it, modify it & redistribute the software & modified source code as well.

There is also a free text based (console based) version of the instant messenger. Its called Finch (formerly called Gaim-text ) . Finch is a console-based IM program that lets you sign on to AIM, Jabber, MSN, Yahoo! , and other IM networks.

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