Windows Messenger Alternative

I was hoping some of the windows tech savvy people here are happy with a good windows messenger replacement because myself and some of the people I work with are definitely not happy with the Microsoft alternative. As online colleagues, we have relied heavily on over the past years on the Windows Live Messenger tool. Has anybody tried Trillian or Digsby. Naturally we are all using windows XP, 7 or 8. Or maybe you have a completely different alternative. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Pidgin is the answer.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

Initially I thought how long does it take a pigeon to get to Australia

Thank you mortal, it looks like a smooth transition