 | Comparison of instant messengers: Encyclopedia II - Comparison of instant messengers - Features
Comparison of instant messengers - Features
Information on what features each of the clients support.
Note 1: Plug-in system to add/expand the default features for the application, or protocol. Such as (but not limited to) Trillian chat client - Plugins
Note 2: Third party add-ons which are usually not approved by the author of the application and are usually standalone. Such as (but not limited to) AOL Instant messenger - Third-party add-ons
Note 4: Proprietary; compatible only to itself.
Note 5: ICQ: SSL-encrypted direct connections; compatible between mICQ, licq and SIM.
Note 6: Any protocol: GPG-encrypted messages.
Note 7: Blowfish-encrypted direct connection; compatible only to itself.
Note 8: Available as a plugin at http://gaim-encryption.sf.net. Compatible only to other gaim clients with the same plugin. Also available as another plugin at http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/.
Note 9: Compatible with all Jabber clients implementing JEP-0027 (standard Jabber encryption).
Note 10: SecureIM plugin provides 192 bits AES Encryption, compatible only to itself.
Note 11: Encryption is "Off The Record" (OTR) encryption, which is currently supported primarily as a system of plugins.
Note 12: GPG-encypted on a per-message basis. Requires GPG to be installed.
Note 13: Because BitlBee depends on an IRC client, features such as toolkits, skinning and smileys are independant of BitlBee itself.
Note 14: Does not permit transfer of executables (filenames ending in .EXE); implicit security feature.
Note 15: Version 3.1 introduced encryption for text-only chat, as well as encrypted audio and/or video, but only for paid subscribers of the .mac service.
Note 16: Upcoming NG version will be toolkit independent.
Note 17: Broken on reception of acknowledged ICQ messages in at least some versions.
Note 18: Scripting via Tcl and via script & socket.
Other related archivesANSI.SYS, AOL Instant messenger - Third-party add-ons, Comparison of instant messaging protocols, GPG, Google, Instant messengers, Jabber, List of instant messaging protocols, List of instant messengers, Messaging OSID, Microsoft Passport Network, Microsoft Windows, NANP, Off The Record, SIM, Software comparison, Subversion, Trillian chat client - Plugins, compatibility layers, emulation, instant messaging, instant messaging protocols, licq, mICQ, operating systems
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Features", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
