Adium for Mac
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Adium for Mac
If you’re an instant message junkie like me, Adium is a must have program for the Mac. It’s quite possibly the most user-friendly program I’ve ever seen and makes it convenient to connect and chat on multiple instant messaging programs at the same time. No need to sign onto your AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, and .Mac accounts individually, so you have eight windows open and are frantically trying to navigate your way through each. Just download Adium for Mac, register your screen names, and start chatting with your friends, family, and co-workers. I use it and love it. Here’s a quick look at how to download and set up Adium.
Installing Adium
First, visit www.adiumx.com. Check the bottom of the page to see what version of Adium you need based on what Mac OS you’re using.
Adium is about 20 MB in size. An install file should end up on your desktop after it’s finished. Double click it and the following screen will pop up, prompting you to drag the Adium duck (the program’s icon) into your Applications folder. You can also do so on the image itself:
I think it’s the only time in my life I’ve ever moved a duck with my mouse. Next, go into your Applications folder and double click on the Adium icon. A duck in a tuxedo will guide you through the rest of the process.
One of the final hurdles you’ll have to jump involves adding all of your screen names. Here’s a look at MacPoker.net’s fake screen name being entered. It’s very simple to do, even if you’ve never attempted using a universal messaging program before:
Here’s a list of supported messaging programs. I cannot name a single one that Adium doesn’t support: AOL Instant Messenger, Jabber, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, .Mac, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, LiveJournal, Lotus Sametime, MySpaceIM, Novell GroupWise, QQ, SIP/SIMPLE, Yahoo! Japan, and Zephyr.
Next to each buddy on your Contacts list, you’ll see his or her buddy icon, status, screen name, and other information. If you hold your house over each name, you can see how long they’ve been online (in case you’re a real stalker).
The buddy list sorts by who is available on top and who’s away on the bottom, which is a helpful feature if you’re trying to see who’s active. You don’t have to navigate a sea of away messages and status icons to figure out who’s available to chat. You can also sort alphabetically or create some other zany way to have your contacts appear.
Adium Display Options
If you click on “Adium” and preferences, there are a multitude of settings you can adjust. Click on the “Appearance” tab and you’ll see that you can tweak just about every icon associated with the program: Menu Bar, Emoticons, and your Status Icon. You can also change the colors associated with your Contact List as well as the shape of your windows. Click on “Contact Bubbles” under “Window Style” for a really interesting look. Here’s a look at the “Appearances” tab:
For changing your messaging options, click on the appropriately-titled “Messages” tab at the top of the options screen. You can change the Message Style, Color, and Font Size. You can also use a custom chat background if you have one stashed away. Here’s a glimpse at the Messages tab:
Tabbed Chatting
It’s very exciting that Adium included tabbed chatting. Available on other instant messenging programs, tabbed chatting prevents a large number of windows from blinking at the bottom of your screen.
Adium even stores your past chats in case you need to reference something – a phone number, address, or meeting time – from a past conversation. There’s no need to save past conversations. To access your past chat logs, just click on “Contact” on the top menu bar and “View Chat Transcripts” or hit “Command-L.”
Adium Resources
Questions? Get them answered in the Adium Support Center
Read the latest in Adium’s Development Blog
Find cool new features for the software: Adium Plugins and Extras