I’ve been a regular user of instant message chat since ICQ first became available (my ICQ id has only 6 digits). With AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, and now Google all offering semi-proprietary chat clients I have accounts on each service. Running five different chat clients is cumbersome and somehow not elegant.
For years, when I was primarily using Windows on my personal machines and at work, I used Trillian as an all-in-one solution to multiple chat services. Upon switching to Apple and the Mac OS nearly four years ago, I started hunting around for a multi-protocol client once again. At first I was using Proteus, but I soon switched to Adium.
Changing employment engagements to a client with restricted Internet access, I once again needed a new solution. Enter Meebo. A web-based multi-protocol chat client, meebo has rapidly replaced all my other clients, regardless of operating system. I get the same look and feel on any machine, on any OS. Better still, using the “load page in sidebar” feature of Firefox, I can have Meebo up an running along side my regular browsing - I don’t even have to switch to a new window or tab to continue a converstation. Each new release of Meebo brings more desktop client features to the mix as well. If you haven’t tried it yet, and you are a fan of more than one chat service, I high recommend Meebo.