Another Miranda IM review
One of the main goals in this column is to give the reader information about free (and legal) ways to make a Windows PC do all the things that a computer
is supposed to do. The featured open source project for this week is designed to make accomplishing one of the tasks on the previous list a breeze. This week’s program is Miranda Instant Messenger.
Miranda IM is a very powerful and easy-to-use instant messaging client for the Windows operating system. Miranda IM has extensive protocol support and is designed to be resource efficient. It uses very little memory and does not require any installation. Just unzip the self-extracting download and run the program.
This incredible feature makes Miranda IM ideal for use from a removable storage source such as an USB memory stick or floppy disk. The project’s goals are summed up in a motto of “Smaller, Faster, Easier”, and Miranda IM delivers on all three.
The program itself is much smaller than it’s big-name counterparts. The main reason for this is it contains no spyware or advertising. It also lacks some of the lesser-used bells and whistles like video conferencing.
When it comes to instant messaging, most clients only deliver on the messaging part, but not the instant. With the needless bloat and ad-delayed startups, the IM in other IM clients may as well stand for Impeded Messaging. Miranda IM delivers on its second goal of being faster as well.
The size and speed aspects are not without cost, some features are not included in Miranda IM. These “missing parts” include: Video conferencing and voice chat (although a plug-in lets two Miranda IM users use voice chat), white board support, consistent multi-user chat (but that is being worked on and is currently available for limited networks), and file transfer is not available for all networks yet. Another drawback is, as IM protocols change, the user may become disconnected for a while now and then as the filters are updated.
In its base download, Miranda IM supports ICQ, AIM, Jabber, IRC, and MSN protocols. A version with just ICQ, AIM, IRC, and MSN can fit on a 1.44MB 3.5 floppy, (if the documentation is removed). Other protocols, like Yahoo, VyChat, Gadu-Gadu, Tlen, E-Mage, Netsend, EmLanProto, POP3, and more, can easily be added from the Miranda website through their extensive plug-in feature. The added protocol-support allows users to interact over the internet, or over an LAN (Local Area Network).
Their powerful plug-in set-up makes Miranda IM extremely flexible and customizable while still keeping its goal of being lightweight. Only the basics are in the core, anything else is optional. There are currently more than 200 free plug-ins available. Examples include email notification, news feeds, emoticon support, messages read-aloud, and weather updates. As a part of the plug-in setup, a user can customize the look and feel of the interface (through “skinning”) and even change the language. A user can also add advanced logging features and pop-up notifications.
Miranda IM runs on pretty much any version of Windows that is still in use. There is support for Windows 95, NT 4, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP & 2003. So unless a system is running Windows 3.1, it’s all set.
The benefits of Miranda IM are many. Multi-protocol support means no matter what IM networks the user wants to use, they only need one client. No one would need to have a MSN client, a Yahoo client, and an AIM client, for example, clogging up hard drive space and eating up system resources. A user could be attached to all three networks through one client that is smaller than any one of the three it replaces.
It is open source, released under the popular GPL License and is, as always, free of charge.
No spyware or advertising eating up system resources and patience. More compact interface leaving monitor real estate as free as possible. Highly customizable, making it easy to meet user needs. The self-contained nature of the setup makes it easy to move from one computer to another. And the open source nature of the beast means anyone can “look under the hood” to see exactly what he’s getting.
All-in-all, Miranda IM is a very good program to include on any Windows computer. With its compact footprint, multi-client support, and free cost, no system should be without it.
To download Miranda IM, or just to learn more about the project, visit http://www.miranda-im.org/.
There are plenty of open source instant messengers out there. One of the other popular models is GAIM
which is set for an upcoming review. Be on the lookout for that one.
is supposed to do. The featured open source project for this week is designed to make accomplishing one of the tasks on the previous list a breeze. This week’s program is Miranda Instant Messenger.
Miranda IM is a very powerful and easy-to-use instant messaging client for the Windows operating system. Miranda IM has extensive protocol support and is designed to be resource efficient. It uses very little memory and does not require any installation. Just unzip the self-extracting download and run the program.
This incredible feature makes Miranda IM ideal for use from a removable storage source such as an USB memory stick or floppy disk. The project’s goals are summed up in a motto of “Smaller, Faster, Easier”, and Miranda IM delivers on all three.
The program itself is much smaller than it’s big-name counterparts. The main reason for this is it contains no spyware or advertising. It also lacks some of the lesser-used bells and whistles like video conferencing.
When it comes to instant messaging, most clients only deliver on the messaging part, but not the instant. With the needless bloat and ad-delayed startups, the IM in other IM clients may as well stand for Impeded Messaging. Miranda IM delivers on its second goal of being faster as well.
The size and speed aspects are not without cost, some features are not included in Miranda IM. These “missing parts” include: Video conferencing and voice chat (although a plug-in lets two Miranda IM users use voice chat), white board support, consistent multi-user chat (but that is being worked on and is currently available for limited networks), and file transfer is not available for all networks yet. Another drawback is, as IM protocols change, the user may become disconnected for a while now and then as the filters are updated.
In its base download, Miranda IM supports ICQ, AIM, Jabber, IRC, and MSN protocols. A version with just ICQ, AIM, IRC, and MSN can fit on a 1.44MB 3.5 floppy, (if the documentation is removed). Other protocols, like Yahoo, VyChat, Gadu-Gadu, Tlen, E-Mage, Netsend, EmLanProto, POP3, and more, can easily be added from the Miranda website through their extensive plug-in feature. The added protocol-support allows users to interact over the internet, or over an LAN (Local Area Network).
Their powerful plug-in set-up makes Miranda IM extremely flexible and customizable while still keeping its goal of being lightweight. Only the basics are in the core, anything else is optional. There are currently more than 200 free plug-ins available. Examples include email notification, news feeds, emoticon support, messages read-aloud, and weather updates. As a part of the plug-in setup, a user can customize the look and feel of the interface (through “skinning”) and even change the language. A user can also add advanced logging features and pop-up notifications.
Miranda IM runs on pretty much any version of Windows that is still in use. There is support for Windows 95, NT 4, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP & 2003. So unless a system is running Windows 3.1, it’s all set.
The benefits of Miranda IM are many. Multi-protocol support means no matter what IM networks the user wants to use, they only need one client. No one would need to have a MSN client, a Yahoo client, and an AIM client, for example, clogging up hard drive space and eating up system resources. A user could be attached to all three networks through one client that is smaller than any one of the three it replaces.
It is open source, released under the popular GPL License and is, as always, free of charge.
No spyware or advertising eating up system resources and patience. More compact interface leaving monitor real estate as free as possible. Highly customizable, making it easy to meet user needs. The self-contained nature of the setup makes it easy to move from one computer to another. And the open source nature of the beast means anyone can “look under the hood” to see exactly what he’s getting.
All-in-all, Miranda IM is a very good program to include on any Windows computer. With its compact footprint, multi-client support, and free cost, no system should be without it.
To download Miranda IM, or just to learn more about the project, visit http://www.miranda-im.org/.
There are plenty of open source instant messengers out there. One of the other popular models is GAIM
which is set for an upcoming review. Be on the lookout for that one.
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