AIM Triton

Side by Side Comparison

I downloaded AIM Triton. I'm a gaim user but allot of people complain and whine about my choice of client. Mostly because direct connect, and other features are b0rked on the open source client. So I finally broke down and downloaded the official one.

My first impression? Holly shit - it looks just like Google Talk! I put the clients side by side just to see how far the similarity goes. They copied it down to the "remember the last few lines of the previous conversation" feature. But then again, I'm a geek. Maybe other people do not notice things like that. So, I showed it to Ark and he said the same thing. They are almost identical! And this is probably the first time he actually saw Google Talk running. So AOL, the current leader in the IM market is ripping off the design from the newcomer. I think they actually got scared when Talk came out or something.

Now, I'm actually glad they are copying the best - imitation is the highest form of flattery. But they should have went all the way. Image ads look nasty on such a pretty client. Google Talk does not have any of them!

Some people had major issues with this client but so far I haven't experienced anything out of ordinary. It seems to be working just fine. We'll see how it goes. Maybe it will stop by AIM buddies from whining :P

Speaking of AIM clients - it seems that AOL has finally released a client for Linux! I have no clue how long this stuff has been up, but it is nice. They even have it packaged for rpm based systems and debian. Nice! I need to try out the client on my laptop. It looks very basic though. I might stick with Gaim when I'm on Linux.

Then again, the ultimate aim client for linux is of course naim. I think I'm the only person I know who actually uses it. Why should I run a gui when I can chat from the console :)

Tags: aim, aim triton, aol, google talk, im, instant messaging clients, naim, software