E-Volution IT

Today whilst updating Windows Live Messenger, I also opted to install the latest version of what used to be called Windows Messenger. Since my last complete reinstall of my computer I had not got around to installed Messenger. When I install WLM tonight I instantly realised it was time to find an alternative. Why?

A few reasons where immediately apparent.

1. WLM is very large. Installed it takes up at least 32MB of disk space. It’s process (msnmsgr.exe) which I started right after installation 56.7 MB of RAM on my system when it is just sitting there open as I write this. This is when it is an open window. When minimised it accounts for about 7 - 8 MB (although the figure is rising as I write this, and I am not even using the Messenger client as it is minimised). By the time I wrote that sentence it has risen to 8.64 MB and is still rising.
2. WLM has advertising in it. Not nice. Why should I be subjected to advertising whilst using a messaging client? I shouldn’t. End of story.

I am sure there are many other reasons to remove this application from my computer, but as I am already removing it without using it beyond its initial startup and login, I won’t have a chance to figure out what they are. But the two reasons cited above are enough. (The messenger process is now at 10.3 MB whilst minimised and not being actively used, and still rising).

Here are some good alternatives I found.

1. Pidgin. This used to be called Gaim. A nice looking messenger client. Supports many different messaging networks including Microsoft Messenger, AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, SILC, SIMPLE, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo!, Zephyr.
   I can’t say I have even heard of nearly all of these, but there you have it. Lots of options.
   If you run Mac OSX then Adium is the equivalent app for Mac.
2. Trillian. Also looks nice. Has free and Pro version. If you don’t need lots of video related features then the free version seems to do most things one might expect.
3. Miranda. This one I have not actually checked out, but here is what their website has to say about it: "Miranda IM is the smaller, faster, easier instant messenger with support for multiple protocols. Designed from the ground-up to be resource efficient while still providing a rich feature set, Miranda includes support for AIM, Jabber, ICQ, IRC, MSN, Yahoo, Gadu-Gadu and more. Additionally, with the choice of hundreds of plug-
4. ins, icons, sounds and other content…"

So far I most like the look of Pidgin so that’s what’ll be replacing Windows Live Messenger on this computer for now.

Windows Live Messenger is now dead, as far as this computer is concerned. Let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t go an stick advertising into Live Writer (my preferred choice for desktop blog writing applications on which I am writing this). I’d hate to have to kill that as well, because I’ve seen most of the alternatives and none of them are as good in my opinion.