Instantbird - multi-network IM client

[Simon.T]

[Moderator note: this is the primary InstantBird program thread. View database entry]

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Instantbird, the powerful instant messenger based on Mozilla technologies and Pidgin!

http://www.instantbird.com/

[Crash]

Instantbird is not portable. According to their web site it stores its settings in the following locations based on OS being used--

Windows Vista: Users\<UserName>\AppData\Roaming\instantbird
Windows 2000, XP: Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\instantbird
Mac OS X: ~/Library/Application Support/instantbird
Linux and Unix systems: ~/.instantbird

[Zach Thibeau]

With Most Mozilla Based products that use XUL there is a certain command line option to make it portable

[nycjv321]

does this app even come close in comparison to features/stability of pidgin?

[Zach Thibeau]

I don't know I haven't used it, Downloading takes forever on my pc and I am at work most of the time to do any real downloading

[carbonize]

It's been about 4 years in development but Instantbird has finally been released. Instantbird is a multi messenger that uses libpurple from Pidgin for it's messenger protocols and Gecko from Mozilla for it's gui. You can read more at Instantbird website.

I have submitted it and you can find it at http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=2125

[joby_toss]

!Check package size!

There was a topic a few years ago about Instantbird:
http://www.portablefreeware.com/forums/ ... nstantbird

[carbonize]

Yes I put 11MB in by mistake.

[JohnTHaller]

Yes I put 11MB in by mistake.

Fixed

[webfork]

Are the instructions to make it natively portable accurate? Meaning is it actually portable?

[guinness]

I think this is the same as with Firefox and as we know this leaves traces on the hosts machine, so I would probably use the PAF wrapper.

[JohnTHaller]

I think this is the same as with Firefox and as we know this leaves traces on the hosts machine, so I would probably use the PAF wrapper.

Correct. If you just use the instructions, you'll leave stuff behind in two registry keys and two local folders. Any paths set to a full path in prefs.js will break as you move PCs (some extension settings and, I think, InstantBird's custom sound settings but I'm not sure about that). Mime type associations will break as you move PCs. Extensions may break as you move PCs. Particularly, any extensions that internally are set to a MaxVersion less than your current InstantBird version but have been confirmed to work in the central InstantBird repository (so will be enable by InstantBird anyway) will break as you move PCs or change paths.

[webfork]

V. 1.1 is out

Some initial impressions:

Short version: I immediately like it a lot more than other messenger programs, but its still quite new.

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Pros:
* Very, very similar to Mozilla, both in the look and feel and options menu.
* Wisely borrows the simple, clean, and easy aspects from Mozilla's software.
* Additional security features for AOL chat service were welcome including required encryption and hiding behind AOL's proxy to avoid revealing your IP.

Cons / for the future:
* Message noise (notification sound when you get a msg) is the same as Pidgin and no way to configure this except to turn it off.
* Facebook chat didn't work tho this is an issue with Facebook's notion of a unique username. Someone in the IRC channel pointed me to the answer on the site FAQ.
* They haven't integrated the add-ons site into the program the way Mozilla has. It still redirects to a website. Its not a big deal for most people on these forums, but as this seems to aim for simplicity, that would be a good addition.
* Would like to see this integrated into Thunderbird so I can search all my messages, both instant and email.
* Needs encryption plugins, specifically OTR or (less needed) GPG.


Edit: Found an alpha phase sound customization add-on.

Edit2: Instantbird takes up 43.4 megs, the wrapper program 2.4. Not real easy on the RAM.

Edit3: IRC channel and devs very responsive. Look forward to seeing where this program goes.

[SYSTEM]

V. 1.1 is out

Thanks. I have updated the entry.

[carbonize]

Given how long it seems to take them between builds I aint holding my breath waiting for it to become at least halfway functional. Last I checked it didn't even support file transfer.