- Digsby
-
Not to be confused with Digby.
Digsby 
Build 88 - r29967 (Public Beta) on Windows XPOriginal author(s) Steve Shapiro Developer(s) dotSyntax, LLC. Initial release Build 1 (alpha), December 22, 2007 [1] Stable release Build 91 - r30088 (Public Beta)[2] / July 14, 2011 Development status Active Operating system Microsoft Windows (Mac os & Linux Versions are under development[3]) Size 20 MB Available in English Type Instant messaging client License Proprietary Website www.digsby.com Digsby is a freeware proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application developed by dotSyntax, LLC. Digsby is written in Python and uses wxPython as its widget toolkit and WebKit for rendering. It supports most mainstream IM services such as AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft's .NET Messenger Service, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Facebook Chat, MySpace IM and XMPP/Jabber-based services such as Google Talk and LiveJournal's IM. Secondly, Digsby supports e-mail notifications via POP, IMAP and webmail like AOL, Yahoo! and Hotmail - including the ability to mark messages as read, as spam or delete them from the client itself. Finally, Digsby also supports alerts and newsfeeds from MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Digsby has built in additional features such as customizable skins for the client and IM windows, aggregated web search from within the client via multiple sites, composing emails from IM windows, combining friends from multiple clients into one contact listing, and even a separable Twitter client with unique features such as chronological streaming (oldest to newest). It is released free under a proprietary license. Development is funded through optional sponsored add-on applications via installer and distributed computing.[4] It needs registration, which can be done through the program's installer or through a web interface. As of March 20, 2008, the Digsby application is in its public beta stage of development and is still available for Windows only (Mac & Linux versions continue to be forthcoming).
Contents
History
Digsby started as the school project of Steve Shapiro. Digsby was Steve's project while he was working on his MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Later, he decided to materialize this project into an actual application by forming a team of developers, who began to code Digsby.
It took two years to code Digsby until its public launch in March 2008. Initially, the idea was to make a basic multi-protocol IM client. The email notification and the social networking site integration were both added later on in development.
On April 19, 2011, Digsby announced that it was acquired by Tagged.[5]
Name and Mascot
The name Digsby was thought of as a name that was simple, easy to spell and remember, something that sounded like fun, and most importantly, something that had yet to be registered as a .com domain name. The Digsby mascot was designed by Hewlett Packard's Logoworks. The idea was to have an actual mascot, rather than just a logo. Quoting Steve,
“ We really liked Digsby because we could have a mascot instead of just a logo - someone who would be Digsby. ” Features
Supported IM protocols
- Microsoft Notification Protocol (.NET Messenger Service/Windows Live Messenger, commonly known as MSN)
- OSCAR (AIM/ICQ/MobileMe)
- XMPP/Jabber (Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Live Journal's IM, et al.)
- Yahoo! Messenger Protocol
- MySpace IM
Supported Email
The program includes a rudimentary email client, with e-mail notifications. It automatically retrieves a "from" email address from the logged in instant messaging profiles.[6]
- Gmail
- Yahoo! Mail
- Hotmail
- AOL Mail
- POP/IMAP email
Supported Social networks
Digsby allows users to add social networking sites to the application:[6]
- MySpace: Shows updates to a user's friends' profiles, status, and private messages, and instant access to various parts of their MySpace account, such as their profile, home page, blog, etc.
- Facebook: Shows updates in a user's friend feeds.
- Twitter: Allows users to easily submit new "tweets", and view their friends' tweets.
- LinkedIn: Shows various updates from a user's friends.
Buddy list
It is possible to customize the buddy list by re-arranging of all aspects of it and skinning it for a personalized look. Users can set custom notifications for various actions such as contacts signing in and out, messages sent and received, etc. It supports meta-contacts, which is a drag-and-drop system that allows a user to have one alias for a contact who uses multiple IM protocols with different accounts. Buddy list, IM accounts, widgets, and application settings are synchronized on Digsby's server, so all user settings can be transferred between installations on other computers.[6]
Limitations
A common feature in equivalent multi-protocol IM clients is missing, which is IRC support.[7]
Privacy and other concerns
As of August 18, 2009, the Digsby installer provides a Google search plugin called "Digsby-powered Google Search". The add-on redirects Google searches through Digsby.com, which remains enabled after the uninstall process.[8]
Digsby's distributed computing function, which uses Plura Processing, has been a subject of criticism both for its CPU and power consumption. Digsby developer "chris" responded by saying that CPU usage is limited to 75% for desktops, and 25% for laptops unless operating on battery power.[9] Recent versions of Digsby allow the user to manage the "research module" after installation by specifying the amount of memory/CPU the module is allowed to utilize or by disabling it entirely.
Digsby has announced they will try to make their policies more transparent.[10]
In 2008, Digsby was bundled with a Windows installer named "InstallIQ" which brought with it other security and privacy concerns. InstallIQ provided search information to Freeze.com and forced web-based redirects in FireFox and Internet Explorer without user prompts.
As of 2010, Digsby optionally appends an advertisement to the end of a user's status message. While this can be disabled, it defaults to enabled when a user first installs the program. In December 2010, Digsby made an ad banner appear by default at the bottom of every chat window in use. This can be disabled by going through Preferences > Conversations and unchecking the first box.
References
- ^ dotSyntax, LLC. "Digsby Wiki » Changelog". http://wiki.digsby.com/doku.php?id=builds1to10#build_1_alpha_-_12222007. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
- ^ dotSyntax, LLC. "Digsby Wiki » Changelog". http://wiki.digsby.com/doku.php?id=changelog. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ dotSyntax, LLC. "Digsby for Mac & Linux". http://www.digsby.com/signup/maclinux/. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
- ^ "Digsby Blog » Keeping Digsby Free and Ad-Free". http://blog.digsby.com/archives/68. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- ^ "We’ve Been Tagged!". Digsby Blog. http://blog.digsby.com/archives/1819. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- ^ a b c dotSyntax, LLC. "Digsby = IM + Email + Social Networks". http://www.digsby.com/features.php. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
- ^ "IRC support - digsbies.org". http://digsbies.org/site/content/wishlist/irc-support. Retrieved 2010-05-25.[dead link]
- ^ "Digsby Forums » Firefox and Digsby powered Google search". http://forum.digsby.com/viewtopic.php?id=2773. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ "Questions about the research module". http://forum.digsby.com/viewtopic.php?pid=23214#p23214. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ "Digsby responds to claims of shady money-making tactics". http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/08/14/digsby-responds-to-claims-of-shady-money-making-tactics/. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
External links
Instant messaging Protocols
(comparison)See also Clients by protocol (comparison)Single protocol Multi-protocol - Adium
- Ayttm
- BitlBee
- Centericq
- Digsby
- eBuddy
- Empathy
- Fire
- iChat
- Jitsi
- Kopete
- Mail.ru Agent
- Meebo
- Miranda IM
- Microsoft Lync
- Nimbuzz IM
- Palringo
- Pidgin
- Trillian
- QIP 2010
- Xfire
XMPP (Jabber) .NET Messenger Categories:- Instant messaging clients
- On-line chat
- AIM clients
- Windows instant messaging clients
- Software that uses wxWidgets
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