• Instant Messaging Programs For Windows
• Best Free Instant Messaging Programs
• Best Instant Messaging Program
• Free Instant Messaging For Computers

Question: Q: Best instant messaging software? Hi all, I am a recent MAC convert. Still getting used to the new and exciting MAC world. Adium is one of the best cross-platform clients. If you want video, though, you'll need Yahoo Messenger, or for those on MSN you'll need the aMSN clone (MS Messenger doesn't support video). In last few years, everyone has seemingly ditched the typical instant messenger like AIM and ICQ for Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and plain-old text messages. Adium is an open source instant messaging system for Mac OS X, so if any of your remote employees or clients are PC users, this would not be the best service for your business. However, this chat client is a favorite among Mac users for its simple interface. The Mac has gradually become a better platform for Instant Messaging (IM) in recent years as developers realize the growing need to target OS X users. This roundup will highlight the range of different IM software available and you’ll be pleased to know.

The current^[when?] landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols, so that internet users can communicate with multiple users at the same time.^[1] The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging clients. See the individual products' articles for further information. External links may lead to extensions that add a feature to a client.

Instant Messaging Programs For Windows

• 3Protocol support
• 5Secure messengers

Best Free Instant Messaging Programs

General information[edit]

Operating system support[edit]

The operating systems the clients can run on without emulation or compatibility layers.

1. ^ ^abcdThe only supported desktop Unix-like platform is Linux.
2. ^ ^abcOnly available as Google Chrome/Chromium plugin. No native application available.
3. ^May not be the final version suitable for everyday use.
4. ^The only supported desktop Unix-like platforms are Debian-based Linux distributions.
5. ^Runs under Java, no native installer for latest version
6. ^Secret chats supported only in native application Telegram. Cross-platform application Telegram Desktop does not support them.
7. ^Secret chats supported only in the third-party applications Cutegram and Telegram CLI. Cross-platform application Telegram Desktop does not support them.
8. ^Currently in beta testing.

Protocol support[edit]

1. ^ ^abSupports messaging to a phone number (text messaging service).[1][2]
2. ^AOL is ending AIM access to cryptographically insecure MD5 authentication.[3]
3. ^AIM was discontinued December 15, 2017.[4]Archived 2017-10-06 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^Commonly termed Jabber, used in Facebook, LiveJournal, Tweeter, Identi.ca, etc.
5. ^ ^abNeeds running official Skype client.
6. ^ ^abVia AIM account only.
7. ^Bitlbee is accessed via IRC.
8. ^ ^abcdeSupported via Pidgin back-end, depends on its version
9. ^Via ICQ account only.
10. ^ ^abcdAvailable as plugin.
11. ^Requires Pidgin 2.12
12. ^ ^abcdefghNot supported in versions for Android (checked 12 November 2012 in latest version 1.2.0.11)
13. ^Via Yahoo! Messenger account only.

XMPP-related features[edit]

1. ^Transport support means the ability to set up transports. Once transport is set up, any client can use it to manage contacts and communicate with them.
2. ^ ^abThe difference between XEP-0096 (legacy) and XEP-0234 (Jingle) file transfer is that the latter works behind NAT (e.g., from home and corporate networks).
3. ^Both Empathy and KDE Telepathy are based on Telepathy framework and share same properties in regard of XMPP features support.
4. ^Multi-user chats can be joined but not started
5. ^ ^abFeature unavailable on Windows.
6. ^ ^abFeature available on Windows only.

Features[edit]

Information on what features each of clients support.

1. ^ ^abcdefghFeature only supported on Windows
2. ^While IMVU does not allow add-ons to extend the client, registered accounts can create new content for use inside the simulation.^{[clarification needed]}
3. ^ ^abcdSupported with plugin
4. ^ ^abcdefTox is a communications protocol and a library implementing that protocol. Applications can bring features of their own.

1. ^The connection between the Google Talk client and the Google Talk server is encrypted, except when using Gmail's chat over HTTP, a federated network that doesn't support encryption, or when using a proxy like IMLogic. - Google
2. ^ ^abFeature unavailable in standalone version.
3. ^Depends on build configuration options.

Secure messengers[edit]

Messengers with client-to-client encryption[edit]

The following table is an overview of instant messaging clients that provide end-to-end encryption. Some of the listed client applications do not provide end-to-end encryption by default. These clients may require that users install a separate plugin, turn on a setting, or use an optional mode. In these cases, the encryption-related information in this table is only applicable when the encryption is enabled.

Messengers with client-to-server encryption[edit]

The following table is an overview of those Instant Messenger clients which provide client-to-server encryption. It does not include clients that also provide end-to-end encryption.

Messengers with no encryption[edit]

The following is a list of those Instant Messenger clients which do not provide client-to-server encryption:

• Empathy^{[citation needed]}
• ICQ^{[citation needed]}
• Mxit^[135]
• Nimbuzz^{[211][failed verification]}
• Palringo^{[citation needed]}

Notes[edit]

1. ^ ^abFor transparency to the public, the source code of the encryptionalgorithms, and its implementation into a messenger, should be subject to public auditing—which may disclose flaws or implementation failures. Whereas, a company offering a messenger which does not reveal the source must be blindly trusted. In general it is recommended to not trust closed source encryption.
2. ^ ^abThe clients have a built-in method for users to verify the identity of correspondents they are speaking with and the integrity of the channel, even if the service provider or other third parties are compromised. Two possible ways of doing this are through:
   1. An interface for users to view the fingerprint (hash) of their correspondent's public keys as well as their own, which users can verify manually or out-of-band.
   2. A key exchange protocol with a short-authentication-string comparison. An example is the Socialist millionaire's protocol.
   The solution should verify a binding between the users and the cryptographic channel.
3. ^ ^abForward secrecy describes the option to change the encryption key every session or even instant. This may be implemented by Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR)
4. ^ ^abcdIn symmetric cryptography, the same key is used for encryption and decryption. Knowledge of this key needs to be limited to the two communication partners to ensure confidentiality. As asymmetric algorithms are relatively computationally costly in terms of speed, as compared to symmetric cryptography, the session key may be encrypted / decrypted by a asymmetric algorithm and use a much faster symmetric algorithm to encrypt and decrypt messages, reducing computational cost (increasing speed).
5. ^ ^abMultiple encryption is the process of encrypting an already encrypted message one or more times, either using the same or a different algorithm.
6. ^ ^abcdSome messengers offer Groupchat and file transfer. These features should transfer only encrypted bytes. Encrypted file transfer may be implemented by Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR)
7. ^ ^abPublic keys are used to identify users. A user's IP address can in some cases be related to his or her public key. Messengers that do not relate the user's public key to the user's IP address are considered more secure. This offers more security because the IP cannot be targeted to gain access to the private key. If an attacker knows the IP related to a public key, he or she can try to get on the remote machine, download and decrypt the private key and thus decrypt all encrypted communication.
8. ^ ^abProxies and Tor might prevent an IP from being related to the public key.
9. ^ ^abNot all messengers support the same transport protocols like TCP, UDP and SCTP.
10. ^ ^abLets users exchange encrypted messages asynchronously, i.e. participants do not have to be online at the same time.
11. ^ ^abLets users set a passphrase that encrypts the local message database. The messages are protected if the device is e.g. lost or stolen.
12. ^ ^abcdScreenshot protection and self-destructing messages provide only basic protection against casual/inadvertent logging of messages by users.
13. ^ ^abcdIf a messenger relies on a central server, the setup is closed and may be surveilled. To counter this, decentralized computing architectures have been developed via a peer-to-peer technology, open source chat servers (easily setup by anyone) and/or federated protocols. An architecture in which all the messages do not pass through a central server lessens a single point for surveillance.
14. ^ ^abOff-the-Record Messaging encryption uses the AES symmetric algorithm and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It allows forward secrecy and encrypted file transfers.
15. ^ ^abThe critical advantage in an asymmetric key system is that copies of keys do not need to be sent between communicators. This prevents a third party from copying a key while it is in transit, and preventing the third party from spying on all future messages. In addition, if one key was copied by a third party, only messages to the holder of the key would be compromised, not the messages to the other party in the communication. However, asymmetric algorithms are relatively computationally costly in terms of speed, as compared to symmetric cryptography. The most common asymmetric cryptography algorithm is the RSA Algorithm. Alternative asymmetric algorithms are Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), ElGamal and NTRU. NTRU is regarded not vulnerable to decryption by quantum computing.
16. ^ ^abThe key size describes the length of the needed mathematical operation. Simply spoken, the longer the key, the longer it takes to crack it.
17. ^ ^abFor example user avatars and display names.
18. ^ ^abFor example when and to whom messages have been sent, the time when chats were created, lists of chat participants, the roles of chat participants, chat titles, and chat avatars.
19. ^ ^abFor example a list of contacts who are also using the software or a list of other users whom the user has communicated with.
20. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmnopq}Implements Off-the-Record Messaging encryption which uses the AES symmetric algorithm and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. It allows forward secrecy and encrypted file transfers.
21. ^Only one-to-one messages are end-to-end encrypted. Public chatrooms are not end-to-end encrypted.
22. ^iMessage allows users to send instant messages to other iMessage users, as well as SMS/MMS messages to contacts who are not iMessage users. Only instant messages sent to other iMessage users are end-to-end encrypted. iMessage also contains an optional setting that allows fallback to unencrypted SMS/MMS messaging if the user or an iMessage contact is offline.
23. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}See: Comparison of instant messaging clients#General information.
24. ^Signal contains a setting that allows users to send unencrypted SMS/MMS messages to contacts who do not have Signal. This setting is not enabled by default. Users can also enable a setting that allows fallback to unencrypted SMS/MMS messaging if the user or a Signal contact is offline.
25. ^On iOS, the local message database is encrypted by the operating system if the user has a password on their lock screen.
26. ^ ^abcdefOnly the encryption related source code is open.
27. ^Only on the network connection, not on the end-to-end layer.[5]
28. ^Only messages between Viber users with the latest version for Android, iOS, Desktop or Windows 10 are end-to-end encrypted. The Windows Phone and BlackBerry versions are not supported.
29. ^Merged with RedPhone to become Signal.
30. ^ ^abThe TextSecure server architecture was partially decentralized between December 2013 and February 2016, when it federated with servers run by the developers of CyanogenMod.
31. ^ ^abcSupported with plugin
32. ^OpenPGP encryption (XEP-0027).
33. ^Supported when used with a protocol/service (e.g. Yahoo, MSN etc.) that supports offline messaging. Most protocols support offline messaging (see the features table, fourth from last column).
34. ^Encryption keys are only changed after a key has been used more than 100 times or has been in use for more than a week.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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