Manage Multiple IM Programs With Trillian

Your friends use Yahoo and ICQ, but your colleagues use AIM. If your IM programs are getting out of control, you might want to try  Trillian, a popular freeware program that manages multiple IMs in one place. More than 30,000,000 folks have already downloaded the program at Download.com. According to the Editor's Review:

The program offers simultaneous access to the fab-five chat clients: Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, mIRC, and AIM. By importing your passwords, buddy lists, and client preferences into its own interface, Trillian acts as a hub for all your chat traffic.

Lifehacker also points to a Web site, Trillian Anywhere, which isn't associated with Trillian's publisher Cerulean Studios, but does offer a quick fix to make the program portable:

The process is fairly simple (not much more difficult that installing the program normally), and in the end you'll have all of your contacts on your thumb drive so that you can chat with them from anywhere you're plugged in.

There is a Pro version available that includes support for video chat and additional plugins, but the free version should be more than enough for those who want a no-cost way to streamline their IM programs.

PS: Apple fans, there's a similar all-in-one program for Mac users that's also very popular. It's called Adium, and it's free, too.