Adium, the free instant messaging application for Mac OSX is quite probably the best instant messaging software I’ve used. After switching from my PC where I used different applications for AIM, Yahoo, Hotmail, GMail, and ICQ messaging, I wanted one application that would be able to handle them all.

Naturally, one of the first things I did when I got my new Mac connected to the Internet was to search online for applications which were free and/or cheap. Fortunately I came across this uber list from Paul Stamatiou which lists 10 apps every new Mac owner should know about. The majority of applications listed on Paul’s blog post are still updated by their developers, and some are open source (including Adium).

Here are just some of Adiums features:

• Tabbed messaging: meaning you can chat to multiple people at once
• A customizable interface so you can decide how it looks
• A sophisticated events system (with Growl notifications)
• Xtras which allow you to tweak all aspects of the software

If you’re a Star Wars geek, you’ll love this. I made my Adium icon in my dock into a lightsaber wielding Adium duck.

If you’re new to Mac and you’re needing IM software for Mac, I couldn’t recommend Adium any higher. It was one of the first applications I installed on my MacBook Pro and it’s still there after four years. How many apps can you say that about?

Have you tried Adium? What do you think about it? Any other IM software for Mac you’d recommend?