Memory Usage:
Gaim (v 2.0.0 beta 5): 23232K
Miranda (v0.6 build 14): 16816K
Trillian (v3.1): 20796K
After 5 minutes :
Gaim: 13684K
Miranda: 17568K
Trillian: 24140K
0.5 Gaim/Miranda
Protocols Supported:
Gaim:
(all native)
Aim
ICQ
Gadu-Gadu
GroupWise
IRC
Jabber(Gtalk)
MSN
QQ
SILC
Simple
Sametime
Yahoo
Miranda:
ICQ (native)
AIM (native)
MSN (native)
Jabber (native)
Yahoo (native)
IRC (native)
Gadu-Gadu
Tlen
Netsend
And More the site claims….
Trillian:
(all native)
AIM
IRC
MSN
Yahoo
ICQ
(Attempted to install Jabber plugin but it didn’t work)
+1 Gaim
Plugins:
Overall, they all have a fair amount of plugins, but miranda by far has teh most and largest virarity, not to mention the must useful.
+1 Miranda
Skins:
Gaim: They don’t have skins…
Miranda: Doens’t have a single skining structure and is difficult to use. But has a ton of different skins
Trillian: Has a large number. Not near as difficult as Miranda to apply them
+1 Trillian
Ease of use:
Gaim: Is by fair the simplest to use. Install and run and things are going smoothly. Easy to install plugins and manage connects.
Miranda: Slightly more difficult if you want to do anything other than the bare bones. Can and will get very confusing.
Trillian: Install and use, but not as intuitive as Gaim or Miranda when appoarching contact management.
+1 Gaim
Notes:
Gaim: Open source, free, tabbed chats, simple, clean, small, spell check (if you want). Very easy. I enjoy it a lot. Do I like it more than Miranda? I don’t know. It is aweful close. I will continue to test gaim for the next week or so until I can settle.
Miranda: Open source, free, painfully complicated at times, particularlly when attempting to play with skins and even harder, chat window skins. But it is also small and very expandable if you enjoy that type of thing.
Trillian: Closed source, free (but a pro version is avialalbe), pretty easy, but not as simple or basic as gaim.
Overall:
I really enjoy miranda and gaim, trillian not so much. When it comes to programs, I want simple, easy to use… Its not often I want that out of software and trillian but feels so heavy to me. Too much random crap. Plus I need to pay to get all the features… ya I don’t think so.
In reality, I really only need these programs to support MSN and Jabber (for Gtalk) and Trillians plugin for it didn’t work. But as a piece of software I still don’t find it as good as it’s open source counterparts.
If you like really simple, Gaim. If you want to costumize the hell out of your messenger, Miranda. Trillian in its current states I don’t recommend, but its new version that is in alpha (astra) looks rather neat.
So there you are. A simple guide to the 3 top multi protocol IMers.
On a side note, if you are away from your pc and want an online Imer that supports several protocols, Meebo.com will be your new best friend. Great when you aren’t at home and want to chat.
PaperKingdoms 
Friend of jetfx here, just so his co-author knows.
First off I have to declare myself as one of those dastardly Mac users, but my inborn sense of entitlement trumps my fear of talking from my ass.
I’d say stick with gaim mostly because of the ease of use and tabbed chats. The only major downside is that you’re missing out on skins, and yeah that’s unfortunate since you’re constantly looking at IM windows. But if the tabbed chat works anything like adium’s ( http://www.adiumx.com/ ) then that should more than make up for it. JUst like tabbed browsing I find windowed chat so cluttered now.
Comment by Roue — November 27, 2006 @ 10:13 pm
Thanks for the comment ^_^
Bill is slack…. he has only written 2(!!!) posts in the last months… slacker…
I forgot to mention that miranda and trillian both have tabbed chats.
that adiumx looks like miranda almost. I know nothing about mac’s though. I personally don’t use/like them.
But I totally agree with you on the note that if its not tabbed it too freaking cluttered.
Luckily though, I like the default theme for gaim so I don’t need to worry about it. I personally like the minimalistic style. Its just others may not agree with it.
BTW, do I know you’s? I know some of bills friends.
Comment by bardicknowledge — November 27, 2006 @ 10:26 pm
I’ma Dan, curly haired jerk that goes to school with him.
But yeah, I’m not one of those people that force macs on other people. My mom just happend to work in advertising, so I’ve always just used them. No dramatic “I CAN NEVER USE WINDOWS EVER AGAIN” story here.
Anyway, I’ll get behind you on the minamalistic style. Next to browsers, and depending on who you are music programs, IMs are probbaly amongst the most used aplications. So while looking pretty is apreciated, I’d opt for an unintrusive program any day.
Comment by Roue — November 27, 2006 @ 11:29 pm
Oi Dan, I’m TJ, the short hair bearded jerk Bill knows.
I like your style! You’re hired! That is, if you want it. I would like you to write a Mac tech section for this blog. Covering software and announcements and whatever else you’d like to write about really…
if you’re interested, email me…
bardic[dot]knowledge[at]gmail[dot]com
Comment by bardicknowledge — November 27, 2006 @ 11:45 pm
death note movie subbed : http://www.death-notes.com/
Comment by sca1lywag — November 28, 2006 @ 2:32 am
wickedness! thanks alot for that link mate. ^_^
Comment by bardicknowledge — November 28, 2006 @ 8:50 am
For web-based instant messaging you can also try express.instan-t.com
Comment by Set — November 28, 2006 @ 10:14 am