Apparently, AOL doesn’t like lots of people using Trillian to connect to the AOL Instant Messaging Network. This is the third time that AOL has made subtle changes to their servers to break the Trillian client. The authors of Trillian at Cerulean Studios have been pedanticly patching their (free) software everytime AOL intentially breaks their client. As of right now, Trillian will connect to AOL for about 1 minute, and then disconnect with a message from AOL stating “unathorized software, download our client, blah blah blah”.

The problem is that AOL’s client for their own network is absolutely abhorable! Not to mention that it is adware, and adds an advertisement for AOL on your desktop, to your shortcut bar, as well as to your bookmarks when you install it. In addition, by default, AIM brings up a spam window every time you open the client, and displays annoying ads wasting screen real estate on your buddy list. This is why Trillian has become so popular so quickly. It’s a free client that can be highly customized, and connects to everything IRC, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, and AIM. Trillian is to instant messaging what WinAmp is to mp3s (even though AOL owns WinAmp now). I encourage everyone to try out Trillian if you haven’t already.