Instantbird 0.2 imminent? Edit: It's here!

[patrickjdempsey]

The Gecko/Libpurple multi-protocol chat client Instantbird is due for a major update. If you tried out Instantbird a year ago with version 0.1.3 and were not impressed, it's time to try it out again! If you don't know what it is, Instantbird is a chat client built out of Firefox UI, using the Libpurple chat protocol libraries maintained by the Pidgin folks, and running message styles based on the Adium (Mac chat client) styles. It uses the Firefox add-ons manager and accepts themes, extensions and plugins similar to those used by Firefox, as well as the afore-mentioned Adium-like message styles and smiley themes for ultimate customization!


The folks over at Instantbird have just updated their blog and included tons of information on the new features coming down the pipe:

http://blog.instantbird.org/t4-feature-preview.html
http://blog.instantbird.org/a17-our-goa ... eyond.html


You can download it here... be aware that there are many things that have been fixed since the beta release and work much better now:

http://instantbird.com/index.html


There are already many great extensions available for Instantbird which can be found here. Also note that you should not try to install Adium message styles directly into Instantbird, but use the converted ones found on this site:

https://addons.instantbird.org/en-US/instantbird/


Of the features that some people may find lacking in Instantbird, there are extensions ready to meet your needs...

Minimize to system tray:
https://addons.instantbird.org/en-US/in ... /addon/211

Disconnect/reconnect to all accounts is a good one if you have network disturbances:
https://addons.instantbird.org/en-US/in ... /addon/206

View the about dialogs which you may be interested in if you are a Firefox power user:
https://addons.instantbird.org/en-US/in ... /addon/215

[patrickjdempsey]

Vertical tabs is great if you have too many conversations open:
https://addons.instantbird.org/en-US/in ... /addon/244