Instant Messaging with Empathy

Empathy is a multiprotocol instant messaging (IM) client. It is compatible with AOL* Instant Messenger (AIM), Google Talk, GroupWise® Messenger, ICQ, IRC, MSN Messenger, Jabber/XMPP, Yahoo!*, and other networks.

With Empathy, you can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. Empathy also supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer, away messages, and typing notification.

To start Empathy, click Computer > More Applications > Communicate > Empathy, or press Alt+F2 and enter empathy.

To add an account to Empathy, select Edit > Accounts. Click Add, select the protocol you want, and click Create. Then type your login information in the appropriate fields. Activate the account by checking the Enabled checkbox in the account list.

Add contacts by clicking Chat > Add Contact. An assistant appears to help with creation. However, you must be online and connected to the selected messaging service to add a contact to your list.

To start a chat, double-click the desired contact and type your message in the lower part of the chatting window. Press Enter to send the message. The upper part of the window displays the messages you have sent and received.