CHAT TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS FROM ONE PROGRAM! (Trillian)

Member Name: richardleonard

Product:	Trillian
Date:	28/09/01 (346 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Replaces multiple programs, It's FREE!

Disadvantages: Not quite as advanced

Do you use instant messaging (IM) but have friends who use a different program to you? Are you tired of having MSN, ICQ, Yahoo! and IRC running all at the same time just in-case one of your friends logon? Well, the answer to all your problems is Trillian!

In case you're not familiar with IM - it's similar to a real time, online text chat. You have a list of friends (or buddies as some systems call them), which you can type to in a text window. The list indicates if your friends are online (or not) and allows you to easily communicate with them. Most systems also allow you to set your own status e.g. online or unavailable.

I'd never really been a big fan of IM until a friend of mine suggested I join ICQ (the most popular). I was a bit sceptical at the time and didn't bother. Then one day I did. Firstly, I thought the ICQ program was one of the worst applications I'd seen. The only word I can think of to describe it is "clunky". There were buttons all over the place, too many options to choose from and, the worst part, I didn't find it at all easy to add my friends to the list - which was the whole point of using it! So I decided to try the alternatives.

Microsoft was next on my (short) list. I've had a Hotmail account for ages - but since Microsoft have invented the "passport" I'd never made use of this facility. Downloading MSN messenger was simple enough and once it was working looked much simpler than ICQ. Adding friends was simple and the whole thing seemed much nicer. The added bonus was that it worked in conjunction with Outlook Express. So now I had 2 applications running - just in case either group of friends were online.

Then I read about Trillian.

As I described earlier, this free program replaces all your other IM programs. Which not only saves having multiple icons next to your clock, but is also more efficient on memory. In addition, it's much
easier to use one application for all your messaging.


Download & Installation
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The program is a reasonable download of only 1.74Mb - which was straightforward. After starting the setup you simply select its destination, then configure the various options. Initially I thought it was compulsory to fill in all fields - which meant I actually entered details of an IRC account, which doesn't actually exist. For systems you are not a member of, simply leave these "pages" blank. After IRC you are the given the opportunity to setup your other accounts (MSN, ICQ etc). This was simple, and all your friends are added to your "contact list". An icon then appeared in the system tray.


Configuration
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The simple view is what I have stuck with, although a more advanced view is available. Currently this is beyond me and I haven't looked at it in any great detail. In a sentence, it's a bigger window, and seems to allow you to connect to specific servers or have advanced chats with multiple people - but don't quote me on that!

Adding contacts
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This is so simple. You click on the "Add" button, select a group to add the contact to (e.g. Friends, Family), select the contact type (e.g. ICQ, MSN), type in the name (e.g. 123456789 or someone@hotmail.com) and after clicking on the "Done" button, that's it. The person will be in your list with an icon corresponding to the contact type (ICQ, MSN). This is not only useful to know but also makes the interface seem a bit friendlier.

Online/Offline contacts
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Contacts are stored in the "Offline Buddies" section until they logon. Then they'll jump to the folder you added them. This is similar to other IM applications. If you wish to, you can be notified by a popup window each time someone connects - although this can b
e a little annoying if someone is on and offline all the time.

Sending messages
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By simply right clicking on the online contact's name and selecting "send instant message", brings up a text window where you can type. That's it! Enjoy.

Conclusion
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There are a few other options to allow you to change how the program displays your contacts, or interacts with your system (such as "always on top") but these are fairly standard features.
I love this program and would recommend it to anyone who even uses IM infrequently. The interface is attractive to look at, the tools are self explanatory and above all it's completely free. Give it a go, and you'll soon decide to uninstall the rest!!

Summary: