Comparison of instant messaging clients

src: tr1.cbsistatic.com

Instant messaging was created in July 1996 by Yair Goldfinger, Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser, and Amnon Amir, when they started a company called Mirabilis in order to introduce a new way of communication over the Internet. The current landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols so that internet users can communicate with multiple users at the same time. The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging clients. See the individual products' articles for further information. External links may lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.

Video Comparison of instant messaging clients

General information

Maps Comparison of instant messaging clients

Operating system support

The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.

src: static.techspot.com

Protocol support

XMPP-related features

src: image.slidesharecdn.com

Features

Information on what features each of clients support.

src: www.thebitbag.com

Secure messengers

Messengers with client-to-client encryption

The following table is an overview of instant messaging clients that provide end-to-end encryption. Some of the listed client applications do not provide end-to-end encryption by default. These clients may require that users install a separate plugin, turn on a setting, or use an optional mode. In these cases, the encryption-related information in this table is only applicable when the encryption is enabled.

Messengers with client-to-server encryption

The following table is an overview of those Instant Messenger clients which provide client-to-server encryption. It does not include clients that also provide end-to-end encryption.

Messengers with no encryption

The following is a list of those Instant Messenger clients which do not provide client-to-server encryption:

• Empathy
• ICQ
• Mxit
• Nimbuzz
• Palringo

Notes

src: media.wired.com

See also

• Comparison of instant messaging protocols
• Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients
• Comparison of LAN messengers
• Comparison of VoIP software
• List of SIP software
• List of video telecommunication services and product brands

src: upload.wikimedia.org

References

Source of article : Wikipedia