Bittorrent and Gnutella might be hogging the headlines of the peer to peer (P2P) world, but close behind comes Ares, a successful P2P application that boasts of having its own decentralized network and a simple, quick access interface. Ares spun-off from Gnutella in 2002, and since then has been building a strong and dedicated community of users.

Installing Ares only takes a few minutes and the interface is simple enough that anybody will feel comfortable with it. The new version has a very sleek and dark interface, not unlike that of WMP 11. When you start Ares, it lets you auto scan your PC to find files you might like to share on the network. Beginners will be relieved to know that there is no complex configuration process involved. Once Ares is installed, all you need to do is select the search tab and type the name of the file you want to download. Once it appears, double click on it to begin downloading. You’ll be able to check its progress in the transfer tab. The recent update adds bittorrent support, opening Ares up to loads of new content.

If you enjoy exchanging words with other users, click on the chat tab and connect to one of the thousands of channels available. You can pick up tips on how to use Ares better, ask which files other users recommend or just chit chat about your life in general. You can even insert emoticons into your conversation and keep a list of your favorite chat channels.

Of all the P2P programs, Ares probably features the widest preview screen. You can set it to fit to screen or adjust it to your preference. This is a great way of making sure you’re downloading the right movie or to get a sneak peak at your downloads.

Unlike WinMX or FileNavigator, the two other spin-off Gnutella projects, Ares did not drop into obscurity and unites a flourishing community of users. However, the same old problems usually seem to arise. According to many Ares users the application suffers from constant connectivity troubles making it difficult to properly search for a file or to successfully complete downloads. Others will worry that Ares is a much smaller network than the globally used Gnutella and does not offer quite as much download sources.

Ares is an ambitious project, and the fact that it still remains standing while eDonkey has fallen at the hands of the RIAA, is characteristic of its reliability. Thanks to a strong community of users, a simple interface, a great preview page and multichat service, Ares remains a P2P application of choice for anybody interested into sharing files over the internet.

Download Ares Galaxy 2.0.9 in Softonic

The VoIP protocol has caused a total revolution in the way people communicate on the Internet, and Skype is undoubtedly one of the most widely used VoIP clients you can find.

With Skype you can not only have voice chats on your computer – just like telephone, only for free – but also make real phone calls at much lower rates, using the so called SkypeOut service and paying with Skype credit. Besides voice chats, Skype also includes the standard IM functionalities (written conversations, emoticons, user avatars and so on) and also lets you have video conferences.

These video calls are precisely the main focus on Skype's latest beta version. The program's interface has been completely redesigned with video conferences on mind. This means it's been made wider (full screen, really) so that video fits in perfectly with your written chat, your contact list and a toolbar to manage conversation. Honestly, I'm not sure this is a big improvement; my guess is that most people still use Skype only for voice calls and will find the new interface too obtrusive.

The sound quality during our testing was perfect: loud and clear. Unfortunately we can't say the same from the video image quality. The fact that it was displayed at quite a big size made it look too pixelated. There was though one nice detail, and that's the ability to see your own video image built-in on your contact's video. Also, though this is still a beta version, I must say I didn't have any problems while testing it.

Other improvements in this beta are, among others, a call quality feedback indicator, the ability to turn alerts off, the possibility to group contacts and a new feature called Video in mood, which lets you embed online videos from Metacafe and Dailymotion in your status message.

Skype 4.0 Beta features a complete interface overhaul that now focuses more on video chats, and also adds some handy improvements to the way you communicate online.

Download Skype 4.0.0.166 Beta 2 in Softonic

As one of the mainstays of the instant messaging world, Yahoo! has finally decided to drag itself onto the VOIP bandwagon with the launch of this Voice version of its popular client. As well as offering free PC-to-PC calls and cheap PC-to-phone (landline and mobile) calls, the program throws in all the usual over-the-top gadgetry and gimmicks we've come to associate with Yahoo! Messenger.

As we've seen before from programs that try to be all things to all people, there's always a danger that things can get a little out of hand for the user, and this is the territory that Yahoo is entering with this latest incarnation of its messenger. It's true that the voice facilities in the program are top-notch, delivering crystal-clear clarity for most calls to PCs and phones. It's also true that the application boasts a bevy of interesting and innovative features, such as the ability to play games and listen to online radio together, send animated, talking emoticons, and quickly share files and photos simply by dragging and dropping them into the chat window.

Although, in the main, these features are good for a laugh, we did have a couple of things that we'd like to raise if we ever met Mr Yahoo! Firstly, we like the games but they lack instructions, so sometimes it can take a while to figure out how to play them. Also many of the so-called 'Audibles,' which are essentially animated, talking emoticons, are a little vulgar to say the least, and not really suitable for anyone with a reputation to uphold.

There are plenty of ways to customize the client to suit your mood too. The main interface is fully skinable, and you can also change the way the chat window looks by selecting from dozens of themed 'IMvironments', which certainly helps to inject some variety into your chat experiences. You can also build your own avatar – a process which can take hours as you carefully select the right haircut, clothes, sunglasses and even breed of dog to have sitting at your side in your IM profile.

Individually, these features are both innovative and compelling, but ironically they combine to contribute to the downfall of Messenger for Voice. The fact is that all of these options serve to swamp the interface and if you have a lot of the features running at the same time it's often hard to find even the text window. While it's fun and novel at first, the messenger very quickly becomes an irritant more than anything. Our advice – stick with Skype.

Download Yahoo! Messenger with Voice 9.0.0.1912 in Softonic

Windows Live Messenger, previously known as MSN Messenger, was renamed as part of Microsoft's move towards the Live online community. So far, the most popular IM app in the world had already gone through a bunch of updates, but this new name also meant important changes that would somehow start a new period in Messenger's history.

Windows Live Messenger includes some outstanding characteristics that are well worth a mention. Firstly, its all-new interface features a completely different design from traditional Windows applications, which you can also customize by choosing your own color scheme. In order to maintain this neatness, the menu bar has been hidden under a single top right corner button but this makes it a bit uncomfortable to browse through options. Luckily, the most common actions (send email, call a contact, access MSN Spaces and view shared folders) have been implemented as nice little buttons right under your username, so they're easy to access. Another thing we liked is that you can hide side tabs in the main interface window (right click on any of them and check the "Hide tabs" checkbox). However, there's apparently no way to hide the bottom ad.

Windows Live Messenger offers plenty of emoticons and winks to cheer up your conversations with. You can expand both collections by easily adding new sets which you'll find by the hundred on the Internet. Customization possibilities include changing the chat window background or even adding a personal message to your nickname, but not creating custom status messages. At least this new version features the longed-for offline messaging tool, enabling you to leave a message to any of your contacts even if they're not online.

The two most important features in this new Windows Live Messenger are the ability of sharing folders and making free PC-to-phone calls. As for the first one, it proves as a very handy way to share pictures, while the second feature allows you to save some pennies on your phone bill. However, this service is currently only available in certain countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Spain and Italy) and requires a subscription to the Verizon Web Calling system.

In any case, you can always make use of the PC-to-PC call feature, which provides excellent sound quality. In fact, we must say this feature has been pretty well implemented in Windows Live Messenger. Its ease of use makes it a great alternative to written conversations: just click on the phone icon and your friend will instantly receive an invitation to answer the phone call on the chat window itself. A simple wizard will guide you through audio configuration and a couple of sliders enable you control the volume of your speakers (or headphones) and mic. You can still use the chat window while you talk, for instance to send a web link or a handwritten message.

Summing up, the main issue with Windows Live Messenger is that it has taken it too much time to offer tools that were already found in other IM apps, such as the VoIP calls mentioned above. However, its attractive design plus the huge number of people who are already MSN Messenger users (and who will eventually upgrade their client) will probably help this Live version reach the top.

Download Windows Live Messenger 2009 14.0.5027.908 Beta in Softonic

Being one of the most widely used IM applications, MSN Messenger has always had a large base of users keen on developing plugins with which they could personalize their favorite chat client. Amateur programmers released plugins to discover who had erased you from their contact list, to start more than one MSN session, to log conversations... until MSN Plus! was launched.

MSN Plus! soon became the most popular MSN plug-in, collecting together all the extra options users could ask for into one program. Even now Plus! is still an excellent pack of tools which heavy Messenger users consider as essential and which certainly improves your IM experience. During all these years it has been able to adapt to every new Messenger version, including the name change and the new interface design. In fact, Plus! is now seamlessly integrated into Live Messenger: it launches with the program and the only way you can tell it's there it by two tiny buttons on the main interface.

When Plus was launched, its main feature was the ability to record "chat logs", that is, create text files with all your conversations. However, as this has been already included in the IM app itself, Plus! has had to widen its range of extra functions. These tools can be divided into two groups: those dedicated to chatting improvement and those devoted to contact management. As for the first group, you'll enjoy tabbed chat windows, support for custom text format (bold, italics, font, color) and the so-called quick messages, personal keyboard shortcuts you can assign to sentences or expressions used on a regular basis. The second group of tools allows you to create custom status messages, have your favourite contacts right on the Windows desktop (as an icon) and gather all kinds of stats about contacts, like the last time they logged on or whether they have recently changed their nickname, which I personally find kind of excessive, but hey, to each his own.

Besides all this, Live Messenger Plus still offers its popular chat log tool, which is said to be more powerful and flexible than the default function featured in Windows Messenger Live. Actually, it looks much better thanks to the use of HTML, the ability to record emoticons and winks and the possibility to customize its appearance with CSS formatting.

The list of improvements Plus brings to Windows Live Messenger doesn't end here. You can, for example, hide the application in the system tray under an almost invisible icon (in case you're chatting at work, something we completely disapprove of) or password protect access to the program, amongst others. The good thing though is that you can create your own extra functions, that is, if you know how to code scripts. Plus already features a nice bunch of them, allowing you to display the name of the song you're listening to, send screenshots, use sticky notes and other nice extras.

All in all, Live Messenger Plus is probably the only plug-in you'll ever need, especially if you like customizing every single detail of your Messenger.

Download Messenger Plus! Live 4.70.334 in Softonic

aMSN is an alternative to the classic MSN Messenger, with more features yet a much weaker interface. The chat client looks very similar to Microsoft's product yet differs on a number of points. aMSN developers have delved into the preferences menu, adding extra little features like event alerts and sounds, conferencing support or autoaway messages. Like with MSN Messenger you'll be able to transfer files and organize all your contacts into groups.

Audio/Video support is the number one function that users look for in IM clients nowadays, yet an area which aMSN doesn't particularly focus on. Webcam support is fairly weak and unstable, and instead of integrating into your chat window will open up in a new Quicktime window.

One of the biggest pet peeves of users with aMSN is the interface. It simply doesn't compare with more sleeker, more recent IM clients. To the developer's defense though you can download all sorts of skins from the program's website. Similarly it offers up a range of plugins, to customize your client to your liking. Chat addicts will also appreciate the animated emoticons on hand.

In terms of performance, you have to keep in mind that aMSN is still a Beta product, so still liable to some crashes and bugs. We did have some trouble when opening up new chat window and noticed that the client tended to use a lot of CPU.

In a few words, aMSN is a good alternative to MSN for users looking to add more plugins, skins and delve into the preferences menu.

Download aMSN Messenger 0.97.2 in Softonic

Believe it or not there was a time when using email was something of a novelty, rather than the routine means of communication it’s become today. If you’re yearning for those halcyon days when emailing was new and exciting then maybe it’s time you found a way to spice up your text life. Incredimail is an email client that allows you to inject a bit of fun into your mail.

The application, which has been around in various forms for some years now, allows you to insert audio and visual elements such as background images, animated pictures or humorous (or at least supposedly humorous) noises. It’s clear from the outset that the program is aimed at the less technical user from the set-up wizard that makes it incredibly easy to register your accounts and import your existing mail from either Outlook or your webmail account.

Once you’ve got the app up and running, you’ll find a truly impressive range of backgrounds, fonts, emoticons and all manner of other bells and whistles that you can browse through and add to your messages effortlessly. There’s also a wealth of downloadable extras you can find on the web should you want to add even more variety to your outgoing mail.

In terms of its basic mail features Incredimail is very similar to Outlook Express, though the junk filtering system is a little difficult to set up, which isn’t really in keeping with the rest of the program. Another interesting touch is the addition of a ‘mail servant,’ which notifies you of new mail even before you’ve opened the client. The default is in the form of an animated butler, although this can be changed if, or should we say when, you become annoyed with him.

There’s no doubt that the program provides an interesting way of making your emails appear more interesting. The trouble is, one person’s idea of fun is another’s vision of tackiness hell, and festooning your messages with all these gimmicks means mail takes longer to download, which is doubly annoying for dial-up users. Although we personally wouldn’t want to subject our friends to animated kisses, jumping clowns or burp sounds, Incredimail certainly provides a novel way of making your emails stand out from the rest.

Download IncrediMail Xe 5.85.3718 in Softonic

PostSmile makes it easy to add fun and excitement to your email messages and web-forum postings. You can drag and drop images and animations, smileys and emoticons, text or HTML snippets, quotes and signatures into your email, message board or web-forum postings.

The program offers a wide variety of original artist-created smileys that are sure to leave no one indifferent. All smiley faces are divided into clear categories - Happy, Love, Sad, Communication, Other, Signatures, Famous Quotes, Love Quotes, Proverbs, Jokes and Compliments. But, you don't have to stop there! Our artists have created for you the world best Online Smileys Collection!

PostSmile works with the most popular email programs, including Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, IncrediMail, AOL Mail and many others that support HTML-based email. And also it works with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and other Internet Web-based email systems.

The program is easy to use, has an attractive and compact interface with images, animations, emoticons, "signatures" and text snippets organized into categories. You may change the appearance of the Smileycons program interface by using the different "skins" provided with the package.

Download PostSmile 6.8.1 in Softonic

There are plenty of special effects we can add to IM clients in the form of emoticons, avatars and pictures.

But webcams are generally restricted to nothing but the image you see. However, with WebcamMax Full, you can add all manner of special effects and images to webcam images to make your broadcasts and webcam sessions more interesting. WebcamMax adds videos, pictures and effects to virtual/real Webcams and broadcasts on messenger services.

You can add videos, screenshots, pictures, flash and effects to virtual or real Webcams and messengers including the most popular IM clients such as ICQ, AIM, MSN, Camfrog, Skype, Paltalk, Yahoo, ANYwebcam and Stickam. You can also add special motion effects (Frame, Transform, and Emotion) over your webcam image. If you find that the program doesn't offer you enough effects, you can also download up to 1500 more from the developer's website. Apart from having fun, this program can enhance your YouTube videos or blogcasts by changing the background or environment from where you are broadcasting from.

Perhaps the most useful feature however doesn't relate to effects at all and relates to PinP (Picture in Picture). So for example, you want to talk about a certain part in a film with a friend or discuss it in a review, WebcamMax Full allows you to choose an alternative source which plays in the corner of your webcam in a smaller screen while you talk.

An interesting webcam tool which can be used for fun or more serious pursuits like picture in picture to get the most out of your webcam.

Download WebcamMax Full 5.0.4.8 in Softonic

StrongDC++ is an improved version of DC++ to improve download speed management for all major P2P networks.

The good thing is that this program requires no installation. Simply decompress the file and run the program and you're off. The next step is to select the hub that you want to connect to. The hub looks very much like DC++ but with some important improvements. For example, you can now download from simultaneous multiple users without corrupting the file, it can distribute the parts of files that are not completed and can assign the download speed according to the sources available and the dozens of possibilities in customization of the interface. The improvement of the simultaneous downloading makes a significant improvement to download times and it's much safer than normal single source downloading. The developers point out that segment position and size are decided by file size and chunks speed. You can also set sounds, change the colour scheme or icons, show popup balloons, see emoticons and much more.

A sophisticated P2P application although it's a shame there aren't more users as you won't get many hits on the files you're looking for.

Download StrongDC++ 2.21 in Softonic

Mercury Messenger, also known as MM or dMSN, is a free alternative to MSN Messenger offering almost all the same features.

The IM client allows you to connect to your live or hotmail account and chat with your contacts. You can organize them by groups, use emoticons, send files and activate your webcam during chats. The interface itself is highly similar to that of MSN Messenger albeit a much less attractive one. I found that the different elements are placed a little clumsily here and there, making Mercury Messenger slightly unintuitive. Luckily the interface is interchangeable so if you find a good skin you can use that instead.

A big difference with MSN Messenger is RSS support. Mercury allows you to add and preview RSS feeds. I was a little skeptic of the idea at first, as I much prefer previewing RSS feeds on a whole screen, however I found it very similar to feed reading on a mobile device, which works in some way. Mercury Messenger has a tabbed interface which allows you to open and work with multiple accounts. Beware that having too many open simply ends up confusing though.

Although missing the most recent features of MSN Messengers and despite a weaker interface, Mercury Messenger is a good alternative with RSS and multiple account support.

Download Mercury Messenger 1.9 in Softonic

Bandoo adds new emotions, more technically ‘emot-icons’, to your Yahoo! and MSN messenger. They are well designed, with a cartoon style and lovely pastel shades. They are also animated, and some are really sweet, like the little angel with shining nimbus that at times flutters its wings, or the shy character with glinting eyes and red cheeks.

The program adds a bar on your messenger, just above where you write your text. There are five menus to choose from, one to add emoticons, the next to add animated text, then Winks, Nudges and User pictures at the end. Each category contains dozens of new animations divided into categories, although, as you might guess, the emoticons selection is far wider.

Unfortunately, each menu takes some time to load all the items it contains and even when you select one, the program has to download it, which again takes few seconds. Although this could mean that you might have new animations every now and again, you will have to pay a price in patience.

Bored with the standard Yahoo! and MSN messenger emoticons? Bring new life to your IM with hundreds of free cartoon style, beautifully coloured animations. The only downside is that the program takes a while to load and then download the emoticons into your chat.

Download Bandoo 2.0 in Softonic

Believe it or not there was a time when using email was something of a novelty, rather than the routine means of communication it's become today. If you're yearning for those halcyon days when emailing was new and exciting then maybe it's time you found a way to spice up your text life. Incredimail is an email client that allows you to inject a bit of fun into your mail.

The application, which has been around in various forms for some years now, allows you to insert audio and visual elements such as background images, animated pictures or humorous (or at least supposedly humorous) noises. It's clear from the outset that the program is aimed at the less technical user from the set-up wizard that makes it incredibly easy to register your accounts and import your existing mail from either Outlook or your webmail account.

Once you've got the app up and running, you'll find a truly impressive range of backgrounds, fonts, emoticons and all manner of other bells and whistles that you can browse through and add to your messages effortlessly. There's also a wealth of downloadable extras you can find on the web should you want to add even more variety to your outgoing mail.

In terms of its basic mail features Incredimail is very similar to Outlook Express, though the junk filtering system is a little difficult to set up, which isn't really in keeping with the rest of the program. Another interesting touch is the addition of a 'mail servant,' which notifies you of new mail even before you've opened the client. The default is in the form of an animated butler, although this can be changed if, or should we say when, you become annoyed with him.

There's no doubt that the program provides an interesting way of making your emails appear more interesting. The trouble is, one person's idea of fun is another's vision of tackiness hell, and festooning your messages with all these gimmicks means mail takes longer to download, which is doubly annoying for dial-up users. Although we personally wouldn't want to subject our friends to animated kisses, jumping clowns or burp sounds, Incredimail certainly provides a novel way of making your emails stand out from the rest.

Download IncrediMail Xe 5.70 build 3524 in Softonic

Imo is a popular online instant messaging tool that enables you to sign on to the main IM networks and chat with your buddies right from your web browser.

But if even in the Web 2.0 era you still prefer good old desktop apps, you may use the desktop Imo as well. This special version is just an adaptation from the original online Imo to a standard Windows application.

To be honest, Imo is quite limited compared to other popular IM clients. It's got quite a plain interface, no support for emoticons and no customizing options for fonts, colors and other settings that we find in similar applications.

But I have to admit that it does its job just fine: you can connect to the most popular IM networks (MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk amd AIM) from one single interface and talk to any of your friends, whether they belong to one or another network.

If you need to talk to people on more than one IM network, Imo does the trick, but bear in mind that it offers no extended functionality such as emoticons, colors and other goodies.

Download Imo in Softonic

PMsn Paraiso is a program for to easily enhance your instant messenger. With this program you can browse and autoinstall display pictures, animated gifs, new fonts, emoticons and backgrounds. With one or two clicks you can install all sorts of neat customizations. It works with the popular messenging clients: MSN 6, 7, 7.5, 8, Yahoo, AOL, ICQ.

The best features are:

• Auto-install Packs (Displays, Emoticons, Backgrounds)
• Change your display picture automatically
• MSN Agent Detector (To know who delete you from their contact list)
• Block Checker (Find out who's blocking you)
• Emoticon creator
• Text display picture creator
• Add backgrounds to your contact list
• Add skins
• Muggins and Winks
• Games and aplications launcher
• Delete all emoticons, display picture and backgrounds
• All the latest news about Messenger
• View your personal Messenger folder

Download PMSN Paraiso 2.8.01 in Softonic

Software for the backup and installation of Moods, Winks, Emoticons, Backgrounds and User Tiles from Microsoft MSN Messenger 7, 7.5 Live 8.0. With MSN Backup you can see the image preview and the flash preview for the Winks (soon the flash preview for the Moods).

Download MSN BackUp 1.3.3 in Softonic

Coccinella is an open source jabber client with a nice set of features.

Coupled with a whiteboard, Coccinella becomes a useful tool to chat and work on projects with other people on a network. Although it won't let you use multiple accounts, the client is highly flexible, and will allow you to connect to any Jabber/XMPP server, including popular IM clients like MSN Messenger, ICQ and even Google Talk. However you won't be able to make use of the VoIP capabilities and webcam support of these IM services, as Coccinella does not handle them.

The client's interface is simple and uncluttered and you can keep all your messages in an inbox, making them easy to browse by subject, sender or date. Coccinella also offers file transfers, and you can choose your own avatars. Apart from the decent collection of emoticons, you can also import new ones if you have them in jisp format.

The whiteboard is really fun to use and easy to share with as many other users as you want. Coccinella also offers up connections to chatrooms, something we've never really been convinced of, but at least, for people interested, it's there.

Coccinella is a good open source jabber client with a whiteboard and loads of emoticons that can connect to any server. A recommended IM tool.

Download Coccinella 0.96.4 in Softonic

When I was a teenager I used to save chat logs in all my IM clients (namely ICQ and MSN Messenger). Although I don't do it anymore, I would have loved to know a tool like IM-History back then.

This app saves the chat history of several popular IM clients and synchronizes it with an online storage service. This means that your chat logs are permanently synchronized and up-to-date, no matter where you connect from: home, office or even mobile devices. And of course, you can access them any time with a simple web browser.

Online chat storage is conveniently protected by a personal username and password. As for the desktop client, I must admit I had some problems to properly configure it, but I emailed the Support team and got the solution in about an hour. So if you're having trouble in getting IM-History to find your installed messengers as I did, simply make sure you log on each one of them at least once. I also had some connectivity issues while testing the program, but this is probably due to the fact that it's still in beta stage.

IM-History features a colorful, intuitive interface where you can review all your chats, perform searches by contact or by keyword and also mark any given sentence as Favorite. Chat logs also save emoticons, web links and even photo and video preview.

Despite some configuration and connectivity problems, IM-History is an excellent tool to save, manage and organize chat logs from many different IM clients.

Download IM-History 1.0 Beta in Softonic

Trillian is an exciting and innovative Messenger application ideal for those who are connected to multiple IM networks and like to customize their programs.

The installation process is a bit lengthy, but once set up, Trillian loads quickly. A set-up wizard guides you through the installation process, like choosing your picture, typing an alias and selecting the different networks you will connect to. One of the most versatile IM clients out there, Trillian allows you to connect to Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, AIM and mIRC. To manage your status on each different network you have little round icons at the bottom of the messenger. You can set different states of availability for different accounts. Your IM chats are made secure so you don’t have to worry about anybody eavesdropping on your conversations.

Like most IM clients out there, Trillian serves up videoconferencing, but it uses the QuickTime player to handle your videos. If you and your buddies have webcams, it’s a good way of communicating with each other. The time travel function allows you to replay parts of your webcam chats. Trillian separates contact lists according to the different IM networks you are connected to. You can also choose to create different identities for each of your IM services.

The program has server-less IM to connect with other people in your office or home and send quick messages. The “Instant Lookup” feature is really handy and something we hope to see more of in all IM clients. Right-click on any word in your chats to look up for its definition on the web or Wikipedia.

Trillian is part of the VoIP revolution and lets you make international calls to other VoIP services like AIM, MSN and Yahoo but you won’t be able to make PC-to-phone calls. You can send away messages and SMS to your friends and join a chat room in a click. The “global reconnect” function is useful to reload your connection settings on all of your networks. The “contact message history” function is extremely useful to catch up on what you said to your buddies.

One of the big strengths of Trillian is the wealth of customization tools on hand. You can personalize the interface, change the emoticons and even add new sound packs. With the “Biography” section you can even edit AIM profiles in html. We weren’t too impressed with the default selection of skins and other plug-ins and were furthermore disappointed to learn that you have go to the Trillian site to download new ones. However, there’s a large selection of extra customization tools available online and they’re sorted by popularity for easy browsing.

Versatility and customization are Trillian’s defining aspects. Packed with recent innovations such as videoconferencing and VoIP, and original add-ons like “Instant Lookup” or “global reconnect”, Trillian is a great choice for those of you who want to nest all your IM services into one solid application.

Download Trillian 3.1.9.0 in Softonic

Spark is an IM client that you can use in organizations such as schools or companies to allow people communicate with each other in a quick, efficient way. Of course, there's the possibility to use one of the big IM programs like Live or Yahoo! Messenger, but Spark is faster and far more secure. It uses the Jabber protocol which can be configured to use either private or public networks, depending on the plug-ins you install on your server.

Spark displays a nicely designed interface that makes it really pleasant to use. I especially like the emoticons sets included in the program, as well as the usage of a color code to distinguish between different statuses (online, away, busy and so on). Spark also has some extra details that are hardly found in LAN clients, such as avatar support, conference rooms, voice chat, spellcheck and even a special tool to capture anything on your screen and send it directly to any contact. What's more, the program includes some other useful tools like a basic note editor and a task list.

Of course, no software app is perfect and neither Spark is. I had some problems when trying to organize my contacts into groups, with groups completely disappearing from my screen (but easily recovered by restarting the program). Also, I feel configuration settings fall too short: I'd like to be able to change the font and color of my text or hide offline contacts, just to mention two missing options.

Spark is an attractive, secure and fast IM client for local network communication, with extra tools that make it a great companion for your daily work at office.

Download Spark 2.5.8 in Softonic