Digsby -- The Ultimate Windows Chat Program?

I feel bad. I've been using a program called Digsby (site) for a few weeks now, and haven't had a chance to to through a review here on my site. So, I dedicate this blog to Digsby, and hope that all will benefit. Unless otherwise noted, all pictures are from the official Digsby site.

What is Digsby?

Digsby is a multiprotocol chat client developed for Windows. It integrates all of your chat and email addresses into one simple-to-use program that allows you to chat with whomever on a variety of chat protocols. These include Gmail chat (my favorite), MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, Jabber, and even Facebook Chat (this is not perfected yet. Facebook's chat protocol is ever changing, and so updates are necessary continuously. It still works. Although I hate facebook's chat.). In addition, you can add email addresses to your account that are constantly updated through your "buddy list". It includes support for Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and any other service that provides POP or IMAP access. It also includes support for social networking, including facebook, myspace, and twitter.

How does it work?

Digsby puts this all together in a customizable, skinnable buddy list. Alerts by default pop up in the lower left hand corner of your monitor, and include friend updates from your social network, emails, and messages. The chat protocol is rock solid, and even supports things like pictures, file transfer, voice chat, and other important protocols. It doesn't support hand writing for MSN Messenger and probably misses a few other features that the full-fledged versions might have. However, this is far from a deal breaker for me. I never use those features and find that the simplified version of chatting that Digsby provides is better and more suited to my chatting preferences.

What does the chat window look like?

The chat window in Digsby can also be skinned and changed. The beautiful thing for me is the ability to TAB conversations. That's right: no matter how many chats you having at the same time, you can open them all in one window, tabbing them for convenience. This is a life saver for anyone on the job, or anyone looking for more screen real estate. This is invaluable for people like me who hate having 400 windows open at the same time and just find it better to keep one program window open and tab the different things that you might be working on (think Firefox, or Notepad++).

Why use it?

There are a multitude of reasons to use it. My primary reason is the ability to stay on top of all things at once, without having to have separate browsers for all my different email addresses, avoiding unnecessary resource usage through multiple chat programs, or simply consolidating my online usage and tracking everything more effectively. There is a very robust preferences pane which allows you to customize the look, sound, and performance of Digsby. Want more alerts? Easy. Want less alerts? Easy as well. Adding protocols is a snap, and signing up for a Digsby profile is simple.

Are their drawbacks?

Sure. Signing up for a Digsby profile stores some information on the Digsby servers. You can use this program between computers without having to add all the different protocols again. This means that some sort of information is stored by Digsby regarding your sign in usernames and passwords. However, this information is stored and protected by the company. Also, as I said earlier, some more advanced features are not supported, and if you are avid user of handwriting, or of gaming with Yahoo messenger, this isn't for you.

Overall: Download the program. Seriously. I love it. It has changed the way I chat and the way that I interact with the web. It's free, fast, dead simple, and super effective. I would recommend this whole-heartedly to everybody on my contact list and everybody who glances at this blog.

Link: http://www.digsby.com/. Just click download now, and select the platform you'd like it for! That simple!

Leave any and all comments in the appropriate and designated location. :)