Pidgin is a chat application that is able to connect to multiple chat systems, including AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and ICQ. Connect through multiple accounts at the same time, and chat with any number of people.

Out of the box, Pidgin supports the following chat networks: AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, MXit, MySpaceIM, and Zephyr

Most of the features of these individual chat networks are implemented into the Pidgin client. Such features as file transfers, away messages, buddy icons, custom smilies, and typing notifications are all right there in Pidgin.