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Trillian Astra: First Hands On!

Posted 06/30/07 at 12:24:27 AM  by Will Smith

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I have four or five different IM accounts, on as many different types of services (AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo IM, ICQ, and Google Talk), but for many years, I only used one application to chat with my friends and coworkers on all the different platforms--Trillian. That all changed a few weeks ago, when the open source wizards behind the Pidgin client (you might remember it as Gaim) released version 2.0. Pidgin fixed most of the problems I had with Gaim--it loads fast, looks reasonably good, and works flawlessly, even supporting file transfers and more advanced features. Without a glance back at the aging Trillian client, I moved to Pidgin full time on all my machines.

As a disclaimer, Trillian was one of the first apps to receive our Softy award, and is a long-time favorite of mine. I was pretty bummed that the last version went untouched and virtually unupdated for as long as it has.

This evening, I got an invite to the alpha test for Trillian's new client: Astra. I've only been using it for about 45 minutes so far, and much of the nifty online profile stuff isn't active right now. I took a bunch of screens, so that you guys can see what's changed. This isn't a review, just a first look. But, a bunch of stuff has changed.

On the next page, we've got a few more screens, and a list of the stuff that's changed...

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COMMENTS:6
TAGS: IM, trillian, GAIM, pidgin, google talk
COMMENTS
avataryes yes yes

Submitted by allamismail on Fri, 11/23/2007 - 1:54pm

YES YES YES

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avatarYou laugh?

Submitted by McB on Mon, 07/02/2007 - 12:35am

Why do you laugh about testing new software? Do you think Windows XP is perfect? Have you ever bashed it? Then why do you use it? (Note sarcasm)

Will, I've been using Trillian Astra for a bit now and I'd be interested in testing out some of the features, especially the Myspace IM. www.myspace.com/mrvories if you're interested

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avatarVista...funny

Submitted by sc123 on Sat, 06/30/2007 - 10:44pm

I laugh at Will Smith, who actively bashes Vista and uses it to compose blog posts and test software. I laugh heartily.

On a more serious note, Trillian looks far improved. I began using Trillian and soon moved to Gaim for stability and load times, and since have not looked back. When the new version of the Trill is released I may change my persuasion.

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avatarI'm a big fan of Pidgin

Submitted by willsmith on Mon, 07/02/2007 - 8:28am

I'm a big fan of Pidgin (formerly Gaim) and have been using it for months.

As for Vista, I use a mix of Vista, XP, and Linux. Since Trillian Astra sports some Vista-specific improvements, I wouldn't have gotten the entire experience if I tested it on XP.

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avatarHey if anyone has a alpha

Submitted by Theowningone on Sat, 06/30/2007 - 9:59am

Hey if anyone has an alpha invite feel free to send me one :D
Plz and thanx

theowningone@gmail.com

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avatarPretty spiffy looking! Very

Submitted by blackzarg on Fri, 06/29/2007 - 11:53pm

Pretty spiffy looking! Very sleek. I also used Trillian (per MPC's recommendation!) until Gaim 1.5 recieved a softy award, and I decided to try it out. Hopefully Astra turns out well!

I'm assuming you didn't get an iPhone ;-)

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