Proteus, the chat client for the Mac by Defaultware, is now free! With
Proteus, you can simultaneously connect to AIM, Yahoo!, MSN , ICQ, Jabber (including Gtalk), Bonjour, Gadu Gadu and
Sametime chat services. Plus, it sports a customizable, Mac-like UI and plays well with Address Book.
When
you download the current version 4.12, you will have to go through the registration process, but there will be no
charge. Defaultware has stated that a new version that does not require any sort of registration will be made available
soon, as well as a
universal binary.
After almost 8 years in production, the open-source instant messaging application Fire has come to an end. Pre-dating even iChat, Fire was the first multi-protocol client on the platform, and has long had a dedicated user base. The loss of multiple key members of the development team and a reliance on legacy frameworks which were no longer being updated caused key members of the development team to reconsider their future plans and cease active development. Fortunately for fans of the software, two of Fire's developers have joined the Adium team, and the two applications are already integrating features. Users switching from Fire to Adium can choose to have all of their contacts, logs, away messages, and groups transferred to the new software.
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