Features

Lync has more features than you can shake a stick at. Microsoft has had years of experience creating a well-rounded chat client. Lync includes not only instant messaging but video conferencing and powerful collaboration tools.

Instant messaging works just as you'd expect. The current status of your contacts is displayed clearly next to their names. These statuses are integrated into Outlook as well so you know when someone is available to chat with.

Coferencing is one of the useful feathures of Lync. You can share audio, video, screens, as well as white boards and polls. New for this version of Lync is HD video. Microsoft is using H.264 SVC to make sure that video is broadcasted clearly in 1080p.

Usability

Voice and video calls have been overhauled to be stable and usable, even under poor network conditions. Microsoft has worked hard to overhaul the architecture of Lync to make as many features available as possible in the event of a network slow down or failure.

The interface has been completely redesigned to look more like Windows 8's Modern UI applications. Everything is flat, white, and blue. This makes for a somewhat monotonous look but you quickly addapt to it.

Lync is easy to use and all of its features are presented clearly. It doesn't take look to figure out how to do something, even if you've never used previous versions of Lync before. Hovering over a contact will reveal all of the ways you can communicate with him or her.

Lync takes a page out of Google's book by giving a great screen sharing experience where each of the of the video chat is displayed above the shared presentation. This makes it easy to gaguge the reaction of the virtual crowd.

Ecosystem and polish

It's all about the ecosystem these days and Microsoft is tackling that challenge with a complete ecosystem for Lync. There is even a Windows Phone 8 application that is excellent. There are plans for an Android and iOS version as well.

Microsoft knows that not all users will have Lync installed on each computer so they've put in extra work to create a web app for Lync. Any modern browser will allow users to log into their Lync. The web app includes the ability to have HD video conferences, VoIP, instant messanging and desktop sharing.

Last by not least, Microsoft has been vocal about integrating Lync with Skype. This means Lync users will have access to all of their Skype contacts.

Conclusion

While Microsoft is pushing consumers to use Skype, it is pushing corporate users to use Lync. That shouldn't be a problem though as Lync is one of the most well thought out chat clients out there today. There are a ton of excellent features and the interface is well done. It integrates flawlessly with other Microsoft products and the Lync ecosystem is satisfying to use.

Download Microsoft Lync 2013 15.0.4420.1017 in Softonic

Picture the situation. You love Google Talk. Your family is stuck on Windows Live Messenger. Your friends in Poland all love Gadu-Gadu and, for some strange reason, your best friend insists on ICQ. You obviously have an IM crisis, and in the interests of peace and friendship, you need to sort it, fast.

When you install Pidgin, it will ask you for the details of the accounts you want to add. Pidgin can remember your passwords for you, but if you do not enable this option you'll have to sign in every time. Once you're set up, you can do all the things you would expect - change your icon, create groups, configure alerts, send files and even add bunches of Pidgin plug-ins.

For the more technically minded, one of Pidgin's best features are the configuration options. These are much easier to access than in other applications and allow you to manage certificates, toggle advanced settings for your accounts, individually or together, set up proxy servers and even join chat rooms. Sounds too complicated? Don't worry, that's the beauty of Pidgin - you can get as technical or as simple as you like. It's the perfect client for everyone.

Simple, effective and multi-protocol - what more could you ask for?!

Download Pidgin 2.10.7 in Softonic

As well as basic functions such as chat, checking your mail and send and receiving files, it lets you make phone calls worldwide and send and receive faxes at rates comparable to Skype. In addition, there's an easy to use RS reader and the overall feel and design is quite nice. The PC-to-Phone rates are low and the audio quality is usually very good. I also liked the fact that you can setup call forwarding to any landline or mobile phone, free voicemail to e-mail service and record your own personal voicemail greetings. The PC-to-phone service is known as BuzzOut while the phone-to-PC service is named BuzzMe and enables subscribers to receive unlimited calls on Vbuzzer. You get a free area 416 BuzzMe number that can be reached from any phone and they usually have introductory offers with a range of free calls on offer.

I wouldn't change to this from Skype but if they could lower the rates a bit, I'd definitely consider it.

Download Vbuzzer Messenger 2.5.410 in Softonic

If you have friends that you chat with across multiple services, it can be tough trying to keep up with them all. IM+ accesses your accounts from popular services like Facebook, Google, and AIM to bring all of your chats into one application.

The interface of IM+ is a bit simple but it does the job. Still, it feels like the developers could have taken a look at all the wasted space and the layout of the chats to make it look and feel less spread out. There also aren't very many options to adjust in IM+, which can be a good and bad thing. It's good that IM+ is simple but bad that there's no customizations. It would be nice to see some options to change backgrounds and window layouts.

Chatting in IM+ works well. It works like a columned email client with a chat list on the left and the chat window on the right. This makes it easy to see at a glance all the chats and contacts that you have. IM+ also features notifications so you know when someone has responded while you're in another application.

Overall, IM+ is a solid chat client but doesn't offer anything compelling over stand-alone chat clients.

Download IM+ for Windows 8 0.7 in Softonic

However, things have changed quickly over the last few years. Companies have grown really fast, not only in financial terms, but also in number of workers. New people join the staff everyday and it's harder to make new friends. Those five-minute breaks begin to be scarcer, until one day there's not a single one during a whole working day.

When communication reaches a non-existence level, you know it's time for a change. Most office managers reject the idea of using traditional instant messaging tools such as MSN or Yahoo, mostly because workers end up chatting with friends outside the office instead of answering the dud from accounting. This is why local network based IM applications like Neos have become a more popular solution: they allow workers to exchange messages, files, even media streams... without the temptations of the outer world.

However, Neos is no walled garden. It allows you to gather all your contact lists from different messaging networks (ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and Jabber) into a single window -but that depends exclusively on the plug-ins you install on the server, so everything remains under the Administrator's control. That means you can use it just as an internal communication tool and add support for other networks as it is needed.

Despite being "local", Neos does its job, and does it pretty well. I dare say you will not miss any of the main features found in other instant messaging tools, that is, not taking into account the sometimes useless options offered lately by some of them. You can reach out by one-to-one chat, chat room, VoIP, video conference or even share a whiteboard to have a laugh at your artistic abilities. Neos also allows you to share files, though this functionality may still need some work, because transfers are unsuccessful too often. One little detail I like is the fact that Neos shows you when your chat partner is typing, so you know that they are in the process of responding.

Managing your contacts is really easy: split them into groups, block them if they become a pest, or even rename them to whatever you want (but be careful not to let your boss see his politically incorrect office nickname on your list).

However, Neos is not flawless. Apart from the small bugs which get fixed version after version, the developers need to improve the tool's design. The interface is fine and so is the menu system, but the problem is the default emoticon pack. My goodness, they look so ugly! I’m simply not able to express my feelings with such a limited repertoire. At least you can download new packs from their webpage, but still, this is something they really need to improve since emoticons are a staple of any good IM program.

In short, Neos is a great tool for inner office messaging, which can be adapted to other external IM networks, and also a nice way of going back to those good old chats next to the water cooler, taking a break from work and gossiping a little for five minutes (just five minutes, I promise!).

Download Neos 1.2.1 in Softonic

Simply choose the IM protocol that you'd like to connect to from a selection that includes SIP, Google Talk, XMPP/Jabber, MSN or Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Bonjour, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger and Facebook chat. In the main window, you'll find all your personal contacts.

In the Jitsi chat window, you can exchange IM messages or initiate video or audio chats, including group chats. There are a limited number of emoticons and Jitsi keeps a history of your chats. Although the interface isn't particularly intuitive, the fact that you can initiate audio and video chats gives it a serious advantage over many slicker IM clients.

Note that this download link takes you to the nightly build page because Jitsi is being updated so regularly, that you can choose the latest version more easily.

Jitsi might not be quite as slick as other IM clients but is a serious alternative to classics like Miranda.

Download Jitsi 1.0 Beta 1 in Softonic

Gabtastik is a site specific browser (SSB) built so you can use these online chat services in a separate window. To translate: Gabtastik lets you use online chat services just like if they were separate applications.

The interface is clean and Gabtastik lets you open up multiple chats in multiple tabs. So far it only works with Google Talk, Facebook Chat and meebo. If you use an iPhone you'll probably be interested in learning that it also handles the Hahlo iPhone Twitter webapp.

Gabtastik uses very little RAM and its nice having all these online chat services in a separate window, instead of hidden away between various tabs of your browser. Obviously it's only limited to certain services, but if you use meebo, you'll have access to many more like MSN or ICQ.

Gabtastik lets you use online chat services in your very own browser window.

Download Gabtastik 0.21 in Softonic

Try Pidgin portable if you are tired of heavy instant messengers and if you would like multi account application that can run from a USB pen drive, without any installation on the computer you’re using.

Download Pidgin Portable 2.10.7 in Softonic