Adium, the open-source multi-protocol instant messaging client for Mac OS X, which is well-liked by a number of our writers, has been updated to version 1.4. I’ve been using it in beta for what seems like an eternity, but the delay in its release is hardly surprising, given the huge number of new features included in the new version.

In addition to support for pretty much every instant messaging system on the planet, including IRC (which I don’t use) and several protocols I’d never heard of, Adium now supports one or more Twitter accounts. Twitter integration is interesting, as when a new tweet from someone you’re following is added, a popup window appears, just as if you’d gotten a new IM. Frankly, I follow enough people that I find the constant popups annoying. But if you have enough screen room, or are using Spaces, you could leave the window open all of the time.

I find Adium’s implementation of Facebook Chat to be very helpful, especially since it allows me to review past conversations through Adium’s chat transcripts; something that I don’t believe can be done through Facebook’s own system.

Adium’s real strength is its integration with Mac OS X, including the Address Book. It continues to support Growl notifications, and an extensive list of themes and add-ons, so you can customize the program in lots of ways.

Adium has also improved its group chat function, which is very useful since I find it to be an excellent tool for collaborating with my colleagues, including those who use Pidgin or other IM clients on their PCs.

Let us know what you think of the new Adium below.

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I’d been following the growth and innovations in the netbook market over the past year or so, so I am really looking forward to diving into this new platform and fitting it into my current home office menagerie of Windows, Macintosh and Linux machines.

Outfitting My New Netbook

My first step was to delete all the trialware, including Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition, from the machine. My netbook runs Windows 7 Starter Edition (although I see the Google Chrome Operating System in its future) so it’s picked up a certain bad habit that seems to common to all new Windows OS machines: an over-abundance of trialware. I recommend you do the same as me and delete aany trialware from your new netbook so you can start off with the machine as pristine as possible.

For this machine, I made the choice to run only free or open-source software on it — no Microsoft Office, no MindJet MindManager, no OneNote, and not even subscription-based antivirus software. So after deleting much of the trialware from the netbook, I downloaded Google Pack, which is the installer for the major Google desktop applications, to get the party started. Here are some of my additional software suggestions for outfitting your new netbook:

• Evernote. I’ve written about Evernote in the past (here and here) and use it frequently through the course of my writing and consulting work so it is must have install on my new netbook.
• Google Chrome.This is going to be my primary browser on the machine. At least initially, I plan to go without Firefox. It comes as part of the Google Pack.
  
• Google Apps. The Google Pack lets you install desktop shortcuts to Google Calendar (Celine offers GCal tips here), Google Docs and Gmail, my office suite and email apps of choice for my new netbook.
• Pidgin. I have clients and colleagues who make frequent use of instant messaging (IM). This multi-protocol IM client is my choice for the Windows platform.
• Dropbox. After reading Scott’s Dropbox post, I was sold on Dropbox and became a user. While I recently upgraded my Dropbox account, you can still get a 2 GB account for free.
• Jing. Screen captures are a big part of my work. Jing (covered by Doriano) is free and I’ll be using it frequently.
• Anti-virus/Anti-spyware. For the time being, I am going with Google Pack’s anti-virus/anti-spyware software.

Securing Your New Netbook

Lastly, after setting up the netbook, don’t forget to secure it. All cynicism and jokes about Windows security aside, make sure your antivirus software of choice is functional and go into Windows 7 System Security settings and check that your network firewall, virus protection, and spyware protection is on.

For more information about where netbooks are headed, check out the special report “The Future of Netbooks” over on GigaOM Pro (subscription required).

Did you receive a new netbook for Christmas? How are you outfitting it?

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After my recent post about the betas I use, I was introduced to Nimbuzz, an IM program that is now offering voice services in competition with Skype and Gizmo5 (which was recently purchased by Google).

The origins of Nimbuzz are in Europe. It claims a 20 percent market share in several European countries, and it’s popular in the Middle East. The company says that it has 12 million users, and is adding 40,000 users per day — not bad for a service that’s less than two years old. Nimbuzz is less well known in North America, but that may soon change.

Nimbuzz Mobile

Nimbuzz focuses much of its effort on developing mobile clients for a wide variety of mobile phones, including the iPhone/iPod touch, Android systems, and BlackBerry (a native BlackBerry app is new today). Nimbuzz clients are available in several languages.

The Nimbuzz Mobile client supports the IM services one would expect (Windows Live/MSN, Yahoo, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ); social networking chat (Facebook, MySpace); plus some services not often seen in North America, but which are popular elsewhere (the VZ Networks, Gadu-Gadu, Hyves, Giovani).

The client also allows you to make VoIP calls using any SIP account (like Gizmo5), Skype, or its own NimbuzzOut service. Nimbuzz claims that its international calling rates are cheaper than Skype’s.

I found the Nimbuzz mobile client for iPhone/iPod touch to be attractive and easy to use. Both the IM and voice functions work well. I have some minor grumbles, which I’m told will be remedied in upcoming versions.

• In order to make voice calls, the phone number to be dialed must be entered into your device’s address book in full international format — like +1 (555) 555-1212. However, one can’t edit this data directly from Nimbuzz.
• The client supports only one account per service, so if you have, say, two Google Talk accounts, you must pick one.
• Nimbuzz does not yet support GTalk for Google Apps accounts.
• I was recently required to change my GTalk password due to “suspicious activity,” but Nimbuzz for iPhone doesn’t seem to have a way to change service passwords. I had to delete the GTalk account in the client, then re-create it.

Nimbuzz for Mac

The developers at Nimbuzz say that they are “big Apple fans,” and it shows. The Nimbuzz Mac client comes close to the elegance of Adium. I hope the program will maintain its Mac-friendly design as it matures. The Windows version looks good, too, although I haven’t tested it.

The desktop client has most of the features and limitations of the mobile version, although it doesn’t yet support voice calling or Skype chat. It also doesn’t share data with the mobile version, which would be nice, so as to avoid having to input account data more than once. And I would have liked to have seen integration with the Mac Address Book app.

Nimbuzz also offers a web version, which isn’t as full-featured as some other web-based IM services, such as Meebo.

Nimbuzz doesn’t work with Twitter, although I think that’s a good thing. Twitter isn’t a messaging service, it’s a microblogging service, and I have found that Twitter functions in IM clients don’t work very well.

I’m very encouraged by the development of Nimbuzz so far. The company tells me that, instead of adding features willy-nilly, they have chosen to “do it right.”I can certainly agree with that in principle, although given the speed with which other apps are being created and updated, let’s hope that Nimbuzz can keep pace.

Have you tried the new Nimbuzz BlackBerry client? Let us know what you think of it below.

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VoxOx wants to take multi-system communication several steps further. In addition to the various IM protocols, it supports social networks (Facebook, MySpace and Twitter); SMS texting; faxing; private email; file sharing; video conversations; and voice connections. VoxOx also supports Skype messaging, although you have to have the Skype software running, which sort of defeats its purpose.

When you sign up for the service, you are assigned a telephone number in southern California (other locations are apparently on the way). Incoming calls to that number, and voice conversations between you and other VoxOx users, are free; other calls are charged at rates similar to other VoIP services. VoxOx has just begun offering flat-fee voice and texting plans, at prices it claims are significantly cheaper than Skype’s. VoxOx’s other services are free.

In recent days, VoxOx has released beta 2.0.5. The software has improved since I first tried it a year or so ago, but it is very definitely still a work in progress. Its dark background with white text theme is hard on the eyes and isn’t editable, and its contact manager has no provision for importing from or syncing with other address books.

VoxOx seems to be trying to collect the useful features from Skype, conferencing services, virtual PBX services, instant messaging and file sharing services, and putting them all in one place. It’s a pretty cool idea, and VoxOx is definitely worth trying, but I’m not quite ready to make it part of my daily workflow yet.

Have you used VoxOx? What did you think of it?

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For those of us who use instant messaging to conduct our day-to-day business, we know the frustrations of having multiple friends spread throughout all the major IM platforms including Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, and Skype. Pidgin is a freeware multi-protocol IM product that allows access to all your contacts from Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, and many more systems. However, Skype however was always closed off.

Not any longer, thanks to the Skype API and the Skype API Plugin for Pidgin. Using this free plugin, you can instant message back and forth with your Skype contacts within Pidgin. At this point, it isn’t possible to do voice calling from Pidgin. However every Skype contact is brought into Pidgin for easy access. Because Pidgin is cross-platform, this functionality is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

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