Pidgin, previously known as Gaim, is a multi-protocol instant messaging client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. Pidgin messenger is compatible with AIM and ICQ (Oscar protocol), MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, SILC, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks.

Pidgin users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time.

Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer, away messages, typing notification, and MSN window closing notification. It also goes beyond that and provides many unique features.

A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle; and plugins, consisting of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification, iconify on away, spell checking, tabbed conversations, and more.

Pidgin runs on a number of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Qtopia (Sharp Zaurus and iPaq).

Pidgin integrates well with GNOME 2 and KDE 3.1's system tray, as well as Windows's own system tray. This allows you to work with Pidgin without requiring the buddy list window to be up at all times.

Pidgin is under constant development, and releases are usually frequent. The latest news regarding Pidgin can be found on the news page.

What's New in This Release: [ read full changelog ]

General:

· Fix a crash when performing DNS queries on Unixes that use the blocking DNS lookups. (Brian Lu)

AIM and ICQ:

· Fix a crash when some clients send contacts in a format we don't understand.
· Fix blocking and other privacy lists. (Thanks to AOL)