Note: This is NOT a sponsored review. Here I am mentioning about a tool which helped me in my day-to-day life and hence I thought it will be good to share with my readers.
Digsby is a multi-protocol IM client and recently it was released to the public. Like other IM clients, its primary function is to aggregate your different IM accounts in one messenger window so that you can stay in touch with your friends who use different IM accounts.
I have been using Digsby since the past few days and I should say that I am very impressed by its functions. Not only it goes a step further and aggregates your social networking accounts in the messenger but also it has some cool features which make it quite useful. Hence I decided to share those features here so that you can also try it out.
1: Merge All IM accounts and remove duplicate buddies.
Lets say your friend uses different IM accounts like Yahoo, AOL, Gtalk etc. Now digsby allows you to add all the different accounts and combine them into a single merged contact to eliminate duplicate buddies. This way it reduces clutter and further if your friend goes online with even one of his IM accounts, you can easily chat with him.
2: Add Your Email Accounts
You can add your different email accounts to digsby and check their status right from the messenger window. Hence you don’t need to separately visit the email accounts to check mail. In fact if you have more than 1 email account with same provider, like lets say you have 2 yahoomail accounts and 3 gmail accounts, you can add all of them.
3: Work on your email from Digsby

Digsby goes a step further and allows you to mark an email as read, delete it or report it as spam, right from itself. Hence it saves a lot of time and it can eliminate the requirement to log in to your secondary email accounts every time.
4: Check Facebook, MySpace And Twitter Accounts
Digsby allows you to stay up to date with everything happening on your Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace account. Hence it integrates social networking with IM.
5: Receive Alerts and Updates
When new emails arrive in your accounts, you can be updated through digsby. You can also receive alerts of events such as new friend requests, messages, group invites, etc in your social networking accounts.
6: Log in to Different Yahoo And Google Talk Accounts At the Same Time
I think this is the best feature of Digsby. You know that it allows you to add different email accounts of the same provider. Similarly you can log in to different IM accounts of the same provider. Hence if you have two gtalk accounts, one for close friends and the other for acquaintances, you can add both of them to digsby. It works with yahoo,gtalk,aol/aim and windows live accounts. Cool, isn’t it ?
7: Respond to IMs Right From the Pop-up
Yes, you can respond to a sudden IM right from the pop up and then continue with your work. Hence you don’t need to open the IM window for each conversation.
8: Tabbed Conversations
Digsby helps you to manage multiple conversations in a single window through different tabs. Also you drag tabs out into their own windows for important conversations.
9: Give Alias Names To Your Buddies
Yes, you can give alias names to your contacts if you don’t like their buddy names.
10: Cool Skins And Various Customization Options
Apart from the aforesaid features , Digsby also offers some cool skins and also a lot of other customization options. It gives you control with your conversations and various accounts and also helps you to do smooth file transfers.
Hence if you have been using other multi-protocol IM clients , then I think you should definitely consider giving Digsby a try.
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I was one of the initial investors of eShare Technologies, Inc. which actually developed the IM software as we know it and licensed it to AOL back in… hmmm 1999 or 2000. After all of the IM programs and the yahoo update I ended up uninstalling.. This is what it should be.. All loaded into one program.. I just hope it’s still FREE..
PS: Great job on the blog Abhijeet, I’ve subscribed and I’ll add you on Facebook..
Brad
Thanks Brad !
You’re late on the review (many, including me had written during its beta), but hey, no mistake penning down your thoughts.
I should also write a post ‘10 reasons why it sucks’, because I’ve used it for some time (note that there’s still none to beat Digsby, though).
On top would be frequent updates (which can get large if you’re offline), and excess RAM usage.
Sumeshs last blog post..Let’s socialize: Link up with me on social networking/media sites
@Sumesh- “I should also write a post ‘10 reasons why it sucks’, because I’ve used it for some time (note that there’s still none to beat Digsby, though).” ..you’re being cynical as well as appreciative at that sometime
I haven’t had many problems with it and considering the fact that it is still in beta and a new app, I think we can expect it to develop further and become better.
I’m being cynical too because everywhere I look, I see only posts praising good things - almost makes me wonder whether they’re all paid.
Spot on about beta app - they’re promising Mac and Linux apps, which I think will make it a leader or something close.
Sumeshs last blog post..Let’s socialize: Link up with me on social networking/media sites
Oh boys, let’s not have a cat fight over which IM program is better and who reviewed or posted about it first… lol !! :)) But, all kidding aside…. It should be interesting to see who ends up being on top and more widely used.
Brad Christophers last blog post..Marchex partners with AtlantaLoans.com
I’ve been one of the reviewers too, and I’ve to say that I was not paid to say that it is good. Digsby is one of my favorite IM tool, at current.
Sounds really Cool, i’ll try it out now. =]
@Sumesh - I have nothing to do with Digsby at all (pinkie swear), but I can sing its praises. been using it for almost 2 months it rules. It does just about everything, and does it right.
“Check Facebook, MySpace And Twitter Accounts” - this is even misleading. Not only can you “check”, you can actually update statuses for FB and Twitter right from Digsby. Again, with multiple accounts (e.g. for Twitter I have a personal account and company account)
Allens last blog post..Lang’s little gems
The social network features are neat, but Digsby still doesn’t compare to Trillian Astra for actual IMing.
I sort of hope they do manage to surpass Trillian though. The Trillian project is moving at such an amazingly sluggish pace these days, it’s miserable. It’s time for some good competition to shake things up.
Daves last blog post..Why you should not place your whole site in an UpdatePanel
Would Meebo already qualify as pretty solid competition for Trillian?
I haven’t tried Digsby yet. I’m going to wait for the linux drop though.
Ryans last blog post..Passion Quilt Meme
My biggest Digsby complaint is the lack of ability to customize it’s notifications. The default sound for example is so quiet, I can’t even here it. Plus the popups for notifications don’t hang around long enough for my tastes. Cool app though.
You can also use my Digsby Log Converter to import you old chat logs into digsby! It supports 7 chat clients - Yahoo, Trillian, MSN, AIM, Gaim, Pidgin and Miranda.
UFGrayMatters last blog post..AIM Added To the List
I have been a long time Trillian user and after trying numerous IM clients found it to be the best ever. Shall give Digsby a try and check it out.
“developed the IM software as we know it and licensed it to AOL back in… hmmm 1999 or 2000″
IM has been around well before 1999 and 2000 buddy….
First off, I’m not your “Buddy”… Secondly, I believe you must be speaking of message boards which were popular before eShare Technologies perfected it’s own proprietary Software and went public. Go do a Google search on eShare Technologies in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY.. And it’s founder James Tito and then let me know what you come up with.. Ok, Mr. “know it all”..!!!
Just tried the newest Digsby for the second time over the last year. As with the first time, I was very disappointed. I find it way too cluttered and ugly. Pidgin is way more to-the-point. It’s cleaner, faster, and isn’t covered with a bunch of stupid cartoon characters!
Python might be a nice solution respectively to portability. But as a native solution it is not adequate.
Large download and memory footprint. _Sometimes_ slow performance. Digsby should port to native binary and be more tailored to the OS and I am happy.
I like the fact that it removes duplicate buddies. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Andrew
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