"Pidgin 2.0, the latest version of the popular open-source instant messaging client formerly known as Gaim, is now available for download. After months of development and numerous beta releases, Pidgin 2.0 is finally ready. A significant improvement over the current 1.5.x series, Pidgin 2.0 includes several compelling features and usability enhancements. Last year, we looked at the second beta release and concluded that much work still needed to be done. Many of the problems we discovered in the early Gaim 2.0 betas have since been resolved. The official Pidgin 2.0 release, available for download from the Pidgin web site, provides an impressive level of quality and reliability."
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i wouldn't call it a "memory hog", specially since it's using the gtk toolkit...
also, if i'm not mistaken the 2.0 beta5 version of gaim was using a bit over 20MB so at least it's a step forward.
Love the new interface, much better than the (purple?!?) website, imho.
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Adium is based on libpurple. (the Pidgin library that provides support for all the protocols) Without Pidgin there would be no Adium!
See for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adium
"Adium is a popular instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple protocols through the libpurple lbrary."
Edit: And it is not intended to compete with Adium either! it has no OS X version. Infact they recommend Adium on their own webpage: http://www.pidgin.im/pidgin/about/
"Pidgin runs on a number of platforms, including Windows Linux, and other UNIX operating systems. Looking for Pidgin for OS X? Try Adium!"
Edited 2007-05-05 03:35
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hum dude just to let you know that the memory usage greatly depends in what the program is doing. I can show you a screen capture with a little bit over 3 mb RAM used and yes I do have a conversation window open.
Overall the final release is not a huge step forward compared to the beta releases but it is a very polished one. I can't say I like the new logo but the interface is great and the use of tango icons is awesome. I must say that this is just as professionally done as any software that I have seen and the nice thing is that there is no fat ... oh and the windows integration is great but this isn't really new.
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New logo, colours and layout make my eyes bleed. Gah!
Pidgin looks like a great update, sadly I have to wait until plugin enabling polish Tlen protocol (XMPP-based) is ported to the new version. Are there any fellow polish OSnews readers using this plugin? Did you succeed at compiling it against Pidgin?
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Layout is fine. The logo is a little goofy, but the two quotes in the name are actaully rather inventive.
Color choice could've been...less original? Hehe.
The design isn't bad at all IMO, just a few color and mascot changes and we're good. They're branding their "technology" though which is good too. The program's interface is quite an improvement as well. I'm all for simple and I think they've done and excellent job.
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Pidgin 2.0 is really nice, even on Windows. I didn't upgrade until it was out of beta, even though the beta builds were pretty much stable.
I would have linked to Pidgin's website instead of Ars when I submitted this story this morning, but it had apparently gotten Slashdotted.
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Because it lets you connect to more than one IM network in one program while using less resources than either of the native clients?
Because the UI is not littered with ads?
Because the UI looks a lot better than the flashy skins featured by the native clients?
Because it is expandable through tons of plugins?
Because it is available on more than one platform?
Sure, it doesn't have some of the features of the native clients (voice and video come to mind). Yet. However, Pidgin 2.0.0 is a great basis to expand on featurewise. And a much better alternative to the native clients in my opinion.
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The Windows version crashes here when I drag n drop a contact to my General category. Also, the Y! contacts don't show avatars.
More over, the placement of windows I don't like at all: they don't remember their positions.
And the one thing really important for me: you can't make the contacts list visible but without showing it in the windows taskbar. Other IM apps do that by default.
Lastly, the SIMPLE/SIP plugin does not seem to work with the FWD service. If anyone has the exact steps to make it work, I am all ears.
Edited 2007-05-04 22:39
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There's a plugin that lets you hide contacts list from the taskbar - http://sourceforge.net/projects/gaim-extprefs
Edited 2007-05-04 22:53 UTC
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I love the new look and feel - it's so much better than 1.5
Unfortunately the file transfer does not work for YM. Just tried to transfer from/to YM 8.1 with little luck. Also, there is no buzz and the new option "Start doodling" doesn't work.
I have little use for voice/video/audibles so I don't mind them not working.
I don't know about the rest of the protocols, but the Yahoo part still needs some serious love.
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I love GAIM/Pidgin... best IM client for Windows. But one thing bugs me -- the fact that I've never been able to figure out how to just show contacts in alphabetical (or sorted by status) order. I hate the fact that Pidgin shows them ordered in groups!! I sorted them into groups years ago and now I can't find any way to un-sort them.
(Logically, you should be able to just drag them out of the groups and put them back into a single group, but I've found that if you do that, the next time you start GAIM, it comes up with a bunch of errors about how they're in one group on the local PC and another group in the server...)
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The significant improvement is imo Finch and the nice logo 
http://www.pidgin.im/pidgin/about/
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Seriously, this is crazy. Aftr two years of development there's no webcam support - something that messenger has been doing since forever, and it's a major feature for any IM. And no VOIP. That's why I keep using kopete, even if it's a memory pig: At least I do have MSN webcam support.
It's sad that OSS IM's are in a so poor state. Pidgin however makes me feel like I'm going back to the 90's
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I've used Gaim daily for a couple of years, and it's good. The enhancements to 2.0 over 1.5 are nice. I understand that the devs can only do so much, but I wish that the dev team would have focused on adding voice-chat to Gaim instead of many of the other features. A lack of voice chat means using other clients for voice, and if you have to use another client for voice then you might as well use it for text too rather than have a separate client for that, and then Gaim becomes irrelevant. I'm hoping that now that they have the new design and the plug-in API solid that voice (and video) will soon follow. Otherwise, I don't think Gaim will remain that relevant in the long term.
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