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If your instant messaging comrades spread themselves across AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and ICQ, you might go bonkers juggling multiple IM programs on the go. Trillian Basic to the rescue. This free universal application from Cerulean Studios lets you ping your buddies who use AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. Once you establish your accounts in Trillian, it will grab your existing settings, such as buddy lists and security preferences, so you're ready to rock and roll. Trillian also connects to IRC chat servers.
Overall, Trillian worked well as a universal messenger--and like Google Talk and Qnext, it's refreshingly ad-free. Setting up my connections to three of the Big Four networks worked fine, though initially I did have some trouble syncing Trillian to ICQ. The...