Pidgin

Pidgin

So we got some security patch monitoring, we have anti-malware installed, we have test driven some alternate browsers and a few privacy extensions.

Now you want to start replacing the daily use tools for something free, and more robust.

Enter Pidgin, the universal chat client.
Pidgin supports virtually all the protocols,
AIM, Bonjour, Facebook, GoogleTalk, IRC, MSN, XMPP. Yahoo, SILC and more.  If you need to send a message Pidgin can probably do it.  Pidgin is also available for Windows, Linux, Mac.  On of the major benefits to Pidgin is its native support for SILC.  What is SILC you say?  Think encrypted IRC.  Pidgin also has numerous add-ons such as OTR, off the record, to reduce the logs that are retained from conversations.  It is the best of both worlds providing flexibility and optional privacy/security.

Pidgin also has a good language support and spell check capability.

My only real complaint with Pidgin is that on the Windows client the user data is directly tied to the logged on account of the windows host.  This is not the case on the *nix clients.  So if you want to use an alias on Windows you have to also have an alias Windows account from which to run the app.

Keep in mind also that if you want to be secret squirrel and keep your communications private you can only control what is on your local client.  Familiarize yourself with the practice and policies of the server and/or service to which you are connecting.  If you user server werecordeverything.com just because you clear the logs on your client does not mean that there is not a copy being saved on the server.  

But if you don't want to install multiple service specific clients or if you want a common look and feel across multiple systems, give Pidgin a try.

Pidgin