Keshav Bhat asks:
I have a small office with around 10 computer workstations in different rooms/places. Some are Mac and some Windows, and there is one Linux user – me! We need a messaging system that runs on all these platforms so we can communicate.
Can you make any suggestions?
Browser: Firefox 13
System: Win/Mac/Linux
Tagged: best software, cross platform, find software, instant messenger
System: Win/Mac/Linux
Tagged: best software, cross platform, find software, instant messenger
23 Answers -
Bruce Epper
July 15, 2012http://www.outlookmessenger.com/OM/
For 10 users, it iwll run about $80 for a lifetime license. Peer-to-Peer so doesn’t need a dedicated server, but a Pro version is available for centralized management. This is an internal program so your messages are kept within the organization.
Susendeep Dutta
July 15, 2012Pidgin is the best cross platform compatible software -
http://www.pidgin.im/download/
Vipul Jain
July 15, 2012+1 for Pidgin.
quite simple and multi account integrated.
Irshaad Abdool
July 15, 2012you can use your usual email addresses with ebuddy (www.ebuddy.com) as it is a web-based instant messaging service that supports most of the popular IDs (windows live, yahoo..).
you can also have a webdeveloper develop an chat system to be deployed on a server in your intranet
Mike
July 15, 2012First: Pidgin is not a messaging service but a multi-protocol messenger application.
As for the service it depends whether you are looking for something ‘public’ or a solely internal solution.
If it doesn’t matter I would suggest using Skype because in addition to messaging you can also call each other for free.
If you want something internal look into some of the XMPP Servers. I would recommend OpenFire but their page isn’t working (at least for me).
http://xmpp.org/xmpp-software/servers/
http://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/openfire/
Fakhruddin Ahmad
July 15, 2012The answer is Pidgin of course, the best cross-platform IM client so far.
or you could set up a xmpp server for your office…
jessemanalansan
July 15, 2012Same here! I suggest Skype.
Oron
July 15, 2012I’d also recommend Pidgin.
musicphann
July 15, 2012Perhaps Campfire from the creators of Basecamp will work well for your office? It’s designed to integrate with Basecamp and work well in a collaborative environment.
http://campfirenow.com/
ferdinan Sitohang
July 16, 2012If your concern is a Local Area Network(LAN) messaging application which support multi operating system, then there is not much choices. You can use outlookmessanger ( http://www.outlookmessenger.com/OM/default.aspx ). But if all your computer connect to the internet, and all your staff has an IM account in yahoo, pidgin is the best option for this, and may be you can consider skype for more functionality use. Thank you.
Gaurav
July 16, 2012Make sure that the free software you use for instant messaging, must be either built on JAVA because its system independent programming language.
Sohel Zaman
July 17, 2012Use google apps service and then register your all office email addresses with google talk. This is faster and easier. You can try with skype as well for other features.
K L
July 17, 2012I would use Pidgin; it’s free, supports most chat protocols, and works on all 3 mentioned platforms.
edyshor
July 17, 2012Why don’t you use Google Chat/voice .. its right there in you gmail account .. or facebook’s messenger ?!
They are simple, in-browser systems that don’t require setup or maintenance .. you have to have a google/facebook account thou ..
Jonathan Vicencio
July 18, 2012+1 for Pidgin
You could also try google hangout
Arup Chowdhury
July 19, 2012Pidgin.
TXTNLRN Dan
July 19, 2012Zoho chat meeting
Achraf Almouloudi
July 19, 2012If you just want an app that works on different OS but connect to various IM providers I did recommend Pidgin because it is better or eBuddy if you’re an Web apps fan, both those solutions allows access to various social IM services .
Dalsan
July 20, 2012Here are some cross platform local area network messengers that are free and does not require internet access to use. I would check out each of these and find which you prefer.
http://quickmessageapp.com/
http://www.outlookmessenger.com/OM/
http://www.messengeroo.com/lan-messenger/officesip-messenger-free-im-client-for-office-enterprises/
http://www.messengeroo.com/lan-messenger/intramessenger-php-mysql-lan-instant-messenger-chat-forum-cms-ecm-blog-social-networking/
http://lanmsngr.sourceforge.net/
Lambvolution
August 3, 2012Trilian Messenger
Jonas Nordgren
August 6, 2012id try an irc
Paul Girardin
August 23, 2012I also recommend Pidgin if you all have an account on a service like MSN (or Live) messenger.
Oddly for Mac OSX, Pidgin themselves recommend Adium ( http://adium.im/ ), which uses libpurple (the core of Pidgin) for much of its protocol support.
venkatp16
August 29, 2012Spark instant messaging systesm..