Trillian Astra vs. Digsby

I used to use Trillian for all of my IM needs, but when I heard about Digsby, I tried it out and immediately switched over. I now default to Digsby for all my instant messaging needs. I did a post about different IM clients both online and on the desktop and now I’m here to talk about Trillian Astra and Digsby. Trillian Astra is still in it’s beta phase of testing, but I managed to get my hands on a copy of it and so far it looks promising. Both it and Digsby look like they could be my one. It all comes down to which one. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Astra comes out of beta. Whereas Digsby has been out of beta for a while now, Astra has been in the beta testing phase for a very long time. Now that it’s out, I have both Astra and Digsby installed on my Windows laptop. I took them both out for a spin one night and noticed just a few things that I now want to share with you all. Good luck choosing because this vs looks like its definitely going to be real close. I will most likely keep both of these clients on my laptop and use whichever one I feel like using. That’s just how I roll.

Trillian Astra First!

When you type in things like LOL, ROFL, or LMAO, it automatically translates into a sound. Essentially your computer starts laughing at you when you use those acronyms. I find that amusing! One point for Trillian.
Awesome layout and aesthetically very pleasing. Trillian even offers you the option of changing almost everything about your layout, including, but not limited to, themes, layout of your connections, and the way your chats are displayed. Point 2.
One extra feature that Trillian Astra has is the “wall” feature that incorporates all of your social networks and things that you want to share with other people. Cumulatively, it’s like a wall just about you. Cool and nice to have, so point number 3 for Trillian
No Facebook chat. Boo. I hope this is being worked on and will come out on future releases, but I like being able to have all my social networks tied to one place and if Trillian is trying to aggregate social networks, Facebook is a must have. Minus 1 point.
Sending files is a breeze. Simple, easy, and efficient. However, this does not warrant a point. Sorry, Trillian. You have to make it extra snazzy to get a plus on this one.
“Good” notifications. These notifications tell you when a buddy has signed on and will alert you when a Twitter contact has posted. It included the whole post, which is nice. When you have a chat window minimized, a notification will appear, allowing you to quick reply from the popup, very much like Digsby. Scrolling over a Twitter user will produce a list of recent tweets. Very useful. Point!
Lack of video/audio and actually conferencing features is something that will most likely be fixed. However, I still must subtract one for this.
After you send a message or when you receive one, there are certain key words which you can mouse over. Trillian will show you a box with definitions and related information. This feature is not new to Trillian and I find it pretty helpful. Another interesting feature is the header on your IM windows, which will display shopping information, RSS feeds, and news. Point!
Grand Total for Trillian: 3 points!

Digsby is next. We’ll have to go off the same categories so that it’s a fair challenge:

No special status on the LOL, ROFL, or LMAO. However, Digsby can fulfill all your smiley needs. No point there Digsby.
Same with Trillian; awesome layout and also aesthetically pleasing. There is a wide variety of themes, color tweaks, and IM window tweaks. As strong as Trillian Astra, so Digsby also gets a point in this category.
No special feature pertaining to a “wall” feature. Comparable, Digsby has a whole bunch of widgets that you can embed that link directly to your Digsby account. Just because Digsby lacks the Trillian Astra feature doesn’t mean it can’t get points for these widgets. Point!
Facebook Chat is included! It also works like a charm! You can initiate and go off of conversations. One of the primary reasons I used an IM client. Definite point.
Sending files is reliable and easy to do. Although the interface is not quite as nice as Trillian, it has passed all of the usability test I’ve thrown at it. Point!
Awesome notifications. It’s easy to look at profiles. Whenever there is a new alert, notifications, very much like Trillian’s, will pop up. You have the ability to click on updates and also view profiles straight from Digsby. Point again!
Video and audio is provided through interfacing with Tokbox, which is a wonderful service. Props for that. Point!
Grand Total for Digsby: 6 points!

So in my books, it seems like I’ll be sticking with Digsby. However, Trillian is always changing and always updating. I love to keep an eye on these new features, so I’ll be switching back and forth between both of them. I have spoken. Below are some screenshots of both Trillian and Digsby in action. Cheers.