I made true on my threat to create my own installer for Miranda IM that comes with some plugins I consider important pre-installed. If you want to give it a shot, you can get it here. Immodest as I am, I called it Miranda IM Plus (and also to reduce confusion with the official release).
This is what you get:
- ICQ, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber, AIM and Yahoo supported (and the installer lets you select which ones you really want).
- A choice of icon sets for either 32 bit or 16 bit icons, depending on whether you run Windows XP or not.
- OpenSSL libraries are installed for the protocols that can make use of them.
- Your profile is created in your profile directory (%APPDATA%), not in “Program Files”.
- KeepStatus, a plugin that automatically reconnects you when you lose contact to the servers (ICQ users rejoice).
- History++, a plugin that makes the chat history significantly more useful.
- SmileyAdd, a plugin that adds smileys to your chat window
All of those features are chosen by a simple process: If I have use for them and would recommend them, then they are included. This is why there is no fancy themed contact list, no IRC protocol and no sound schemes. Actually, I do use a sound scheme, but I’ve yet to find another person that likes it, so I am not including it :-).
[ media | Sonic Wanderer – Parallax (Wanderized) (SLAY Radio) ]
I always wondered why the Miranda people didn’t do that, good job! … Most People I know stick with Trillian, because of the easy install (and some webcam, ipphone, .. stuff). I am happy with Miranda+Skype+Xfire … it would be wonderful to combine these. Maybe a few of those free Messengers should conceive a common Plugin API for their Messengers. Miranda is my primary Messenger because of its configurability and lean design.