06-23-2006, 12:55 AM
I use instant messengers all the time without them causing any problems on my computer. I don't have any of them run on startup though. They all like to be set for that on install, but the first thing I always do is go in and uncheck that. Its not so much that I don't have IMs running all day on my comp, but that I like to choose when they load instead of it being default.
Generally I use one of the all in one messenger programs. I used trillian for a long time and currently I'm using gaim. Which you use is generally just a preference issue. The main problem you run into with the all in one messengers is support for extra stuff: file transfers can sometimes be hit or miss, webcams don't work in most, voice stuff generally isn't supported. For basic messaging they work fine though. So what I normally do is I have an all in one client running so that I can talk to the people I know on all of the messengers. Then I have the other standalone clients installed, but not running for the occassions when I need to use one of their extra features. Since they aren't running they don't really hurt anything other than taking a very small amount of harddrive space.
The only things, in my mind, to watch out for with clients is install, setting preferences, and ads. I know the last time I installed aim it asked if I wanted AOL Explorer and some other crap installed as well. I can't recall if the other clients do that, but I suspect some do. As long as you make sure to uncheck that stuff though then they aren't too bad on install. After install I always make sure to go in and fiddle with the preferences. Most of the clients have some kind of news webpage thing that they open when you start the program. This can pretty much always be disabled in preferences. As I said, I also turn off the auto-loading feature as well. I also tend to turn off most other things such as news/stock tickers and any other extra stuff I don't need that is on by default. The other worry I can see with some clients are the ads. I know that some versions of aim have ads (not sure about the new triton) and that they sometimes have sound which I find to be annoying. My computer should not be making noises that I don't specifically tell it to make. Aim is the only one I really recall having sound in ads, but many of the clients do have ads which you may or may not approve of. Most all in one clients don't have ads though so thats an easy way to get around that.
In the end I tend to think that the programs themselves aren't such a drag on a system. Its more about how a person uses them. If they install everything that comes with them...have them load on startup with all bells and whistles turned on...have 3-4 different clients running at once...it can grow into a kind of monster. If you are smart about it though...use all in one programs...tweak the settings in the programs...such like that...then I feel that there is nothing wrong with the programs.
Generally I use one of the all in one messenger programs. I used trillian for a long time and currently I'm using gaim. Which you use is generally just a preference issue. The main problem you run into with the all in one messengers is support for extra stuff: file transfers can sometimes be hit or miss, webcams don't work in most, voice stuff generally isn't supported. For basic messaging they work fine though. So what I normally do is I have an all in one client running so that I can talk to the people I know on all of the messengers. Then I have the other standalone clients installed, but not running for the occassions when I need to use one of their extra features. Since they aren't running they don't really hurt anything other than taking a very small amount of harddrive space.
The only things, in my mind, to watch out for with clients is install, setting preferences, and ads. I know the last time I installed aim it asked if I wanted AOL Explorer and some other crap installed as well. I can't recall if the other clients do that, but I suspect some do. As long as you make sure to uncheck that stuff though then they aren't too bad on install. After install I always make sure to go in and fiddle with the preferences. Most of the clients have some kind of news webpage thing that they open when you start the program. This can pretty much always be disabled in preferences. As I said, I also turn off the auto-loading feature as well. I also tend to turn off most other things such as news/stock tickers and any other extra stuff I don't need that is on by default. The other worry I can see with some clients are the ads. I know that some versions of aim have ads (not sure about the new triton) and that they sometimes have sound which I find to be annoying. My computer should not be making noises that I don't specifically tell it to make. Aim is the only one I really recall having sound in ads, but many of the clients do have ads which you may or may not approve of. Most all in one clients don't have ads though so thats an easy way to get around that.
In the end I tend to think that the programs themselves aren't such a drag on a system. Its more about how a person uses them. If they install everything that comes with them...have them load on startup with all bells and whistles turned on...have 3-4 different clients running at once...it can grow into a kind of monster. If you are smart about it though...use all in one programs...tweak the settings in the programs...such like that...then I feel that there is nothing wrong with the programs.