Digsby is a multi-protocol, e-mail-alerting, social-network-alerting, time-saving piece of free software. I'll slow that down a bit.
- Multi-protocol: It works across all services: AOL, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, etc. You can set it up to work for just about all communication.
- E-mail-alerting: When you get an e-mail, it tells you so.
- Social-network-alerting: When something happens on your social network, it tells you so.
- Time-saving: Compose e-mail, IM your friend, send files, view profiles, all in Digsby.
- It's awesome: End of discussion.
So, now that you know what it is, look at this:
This little guy is the reason Digsby caught my eye. Look at him!
I'm going to add some major structure to this one, particularly because it's so big. It'll go in this order: Buddy List, Menu, IM Window, Alerts.
Buddy List
I'm going to start out with that fact that, although it's packed with features, it's easy to use and even easier on the eyes. They use a tabbed interface, with slide-out windows when you hover over spots. My Digsby window is smaller than my AIM one, and it does a lot more.
In the Buddy List, you can manage e-mail, transfer files, IM, and text message. These all come up at once when you hover over a contact, or by IM-ing them and clicking the buttons there.
Splitting it up more, in the E-mail you can compose, delete, mark spam, etc., just like an actual e-mail client, except it's Digsby. There are two things that I dislike about the e-mail: one, you can't open up the entire e-mail in the window, but you can preview title, subject, and a bit of text; two, it puts an icon in your system tray for each e-mail account. The second is useful, because it gives you check, compose, and inbox options by right-clicking, but I think they're annoying. Opening your inbox brings you to the Web site, Webmail.aol.com, for example.
File transfer, IM, and text messaging all work the same: when you click one, a window comes up, and you decide what to do. Simple, and I like it.
Menu
I'm going to spend just a bit on the menu. It's at the top of your Buddy List, and it gives you some things that you can't get other places in Digsby. First off, everything that you can do with the menu takes you to the same, multi-tab window. You can access it through Tools >> Preferences. There, you can edit your layout/colors, fix your settings, manage the program... you get it. To the right is the preferences window.
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