Miranda IM
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Miranda NG is an
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
multiprotocol instant messaging application Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and trigge ...
, designed for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. Miranda NG is
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
distributed under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.


History

In May 2012 Miranda IM was forked to Miranda NG (New Generation). The reasons were a shift in the development team and the slow-paced development of the original Miranda IM. The main differences between the original client and the fork are: a switch to
Visual Studio 2010 Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft. It is used to develop computer programs including websites, web apps, web services and mobile apps. Visual Studio uses Microsoft software development platforms such a ...
's compiler, dropping support for Windows 95/98/ME and non-Unicode plugins, and the fact that the core and plugins development was combined and that they share a unified repository. the latest version of Miranda NG is 0.96.1, released on 2 June 2022.


Architecture

Miranda IM provides a basic client framework, GUI, and an advanced plugin architecture. Support for various IM protocols and additional features is implemented through optional plugins, some of which come bundled with Miranda IM by default; the rest (over 500) were in the past available on the official addons site. Unused protocols can be removed.


Features

* Customized look and function according to each individual's needs. * Management and organization of hundreds of IM buddies on many IM networks ** Contact renaming * Full message archive database ** Simple recall or deletion with the DB Tool or History Sweeper plugin. * Contact details or photos visible with mouseover. (Needs additional plugin) * No advertising * Compact and portable: with few plugins * Security/Privacy: Saves history on hard disk * Low memory footprint


Connectivity

The protocol plugins included with Miranda IM are AIM, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, IRC, Microsoft Messenger service (a.k.a. MSN, .NET, Live, etc.),
XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...
(&
Google Talk Google Talk was an Instant messaging, instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users. Google Talk was ...
), and Yahoo! Messenger.English tr.
/ref> Other protocols available via plugins include
Bonjour Bonjour is a French word meaning (literally translated) "good day", and is commonly used as a greeting. Bonjour may also refer to: People * Laurence BonJour (born 1943), epistemologist and professor of philosophy at the University of Washington ...
Fetion Fetion (Chinese:飞 信, pinyin: fēi xìn, lit. ''flying letter'') was an instant messaging (IM) client developed by China Mobile, a Chinese telecommunications company. It allows users to send and receive SMS free of charge between PCs and mobi ...
, Facebook Messenger, Inter-Asterisk eXchange, Lotus Sametime, NetSend, Myspace, Tencent QQ, SIP,
Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, deb ...
(requires Skype),
Tlen.pl Tlen.pl was an adware licensed Poland, Polish instant messaging service. It was fully compatible with the main Polish Gadu-Gadu instant messenger. It was launched in 2001 and discontinued in May 2016. The communication protocol is based on open ...
,
Xfire Xfire (pronounced "X-Fire") was a proprietary freeware instant messaging service for gamers that also served as a game server browser with various other features. It was available for Microsoft Windows. Xfire was originally developed by Ult ...
.


History


Early days

Miranda IM was first started by Roland Rabien (figbug) on 2 February 2000. At that time, it was a minimalist ICQ clone and officially called Miranda ICQ. The first public release, version 0.0.1, was released on 6 February 2000. This release used LibICQ, had no support for message history, database, and plugins, and had a distribution size of less than 100 KB. A major new feature of version 0.0.4 was the MegaHAL chat bot, which enabled automatic chatting between Miranda and other ICQ users. Plugin support was added with version 0.0.6. ''Logger Plugin'' was the first plugin bundled with the official release.


Version 0.1.x

After the release of version 0.0.6.1 on 26 December 2000, the original developers left, and Richard "cyreve" Hughes took over the project. His first release, version 0.1.0.0 on 8 April 2001 was improved through a major rewrite. The split message dialog bundled with this release became the first messaging module to be put into a plugin. The .Net Messenger Service protocol plugin appeared around the time of version 0.1.1.0 release becoming the second messaging protocol to be supported by Miranda. This was also the first official release to support language pack translations. Miranda hence had multi-protocol, multi-language instant messenger features. After v0.1.0.0, Miranda plugin development grew rapidly. With version 0.1.2.1 (28 February 2002), there were approximately 50 plugins available. At the time the new ''Lizard'' plugin enabled skinning support; the only time Miranda supported skins. ''Lizard'' development stopped soon after, due to the instability it caused.


Version 0.2.x

After the mysterious disappearance of cyreve in June 2002, the developers Martin Öberg (Strickz), Robert Rainwater (rainwater), Sam K (egoDust), and Lyon Lim (lynlimz) took over the project. The MSN protocol was taken over by Rako Shizuka who also developed the first version of Yahoo! Messenger protocol, which was the third protocol supported by Miranda. The ''Yahoo!'' plugin was closed source, and lost reliability as the official Yahoo! Messenger protocol changed over time – it was later re-written by new developer Gennady Feldman. The first of the non-IM plugins, including ''RSS News'' and ''Weather'', were released within this period. These added a contact to contact list for the purpose of displaying information to the user rather than chatting. Discussion about renaming of the program and removal of ''ICQ'' from the core began about this time. Due to the increase of protocol support, the project was officially renamed to Miranda IM on 17 December 2002. The first release under the new name occurred on 1 February 2003, about three years after the beginning of the project, and a bug fix version came two weeks later.


Version 0.3.x

The major change in version 0.3, released on 23 June 2003, was the removal of ''ICQ'' from the core into a plugin. From now on, Miranda could run without the ''ICQ'' application being installed. The project moved to a new site a
www.miranda-im.org
featuring a new discussion board and file listing. Protocol plugins bundled in version 0.3 included ''ICQ'', ''MSN'', ''AIM'', and ''
XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...
''. The ''Yahoo!'' protocol was not included in the package. IRC support was added later by Jörgen Persson (m8rix) to the official release of version 0.3.1, on August 8, 2003.
English tr.
Another major change was the removal of the ''Send-Receive Messaging Module'' from the core into a plugin, ''SRMM''. This reduced the size of the executable file and encouraged rapid development of messaging modules. During this period many variations (including ''SRAMM'', ''SRMM_mod'', etc.) offered different new features and improvements over the standard implementation. ZDNet.be reviewed release 0.3, complimenting its "effortless" contact importing, low memory usage, and extensive variety of plugins, and stating, "Miranda is a strong recommendation for people who have a system tray populated by several IM applications."


Version 0.4.x

Version 0.4 of Miranda IM was released on 7 April 2005. This was the first version to have ''Yahoo!'' protocol bundled with the official release. Other major changes included the removal of contact list and database module from the core into plugins. As a result, there were 4 variations of contact list modules: the original ''clist_classic'', multi-window contact list ''clist_mw'', modern contact list ''clist_modern'', and nicer contact list with extensive UI customization ''clist_nicer''. Other popular plugins released within this period included tabbed message window (''tabsrmm'' and ''scriver''), HTML based message log support ''IE view'', scripting plugin ''mbot'', and the meta contact plugin.


Version 0.5.x

Version 0.5 of Miranda IM was released on 28 July 2006. This is the first version to have
Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
support available as a download option for
Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems sc ...
,
2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
and XP users. Another new feature is the introduction of '' AIM Oscar'', first released in early 2006, allowing users to transfer files and receive away messages. This version also provided more support for
avatars Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance ...
among the various protocols.


Version 0.6.x

Version 0.6 of Miranda IM was released on December 29, 2006. This version introduced
UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...
support to improve file transfer and direct connect reliability through routers. Other changes included improved support for
UTF-8 UTF-8 is a variable-width encoding, variable-length character encoding used for electronic communication. Defined by the Unicode Standard, the name is derived from ''Unicode'' (or ''Universal Coded Character Set'') ''Transformation Format 8-bit'' ...
strings, improved tabbed options support, and numerous bug fixes.


Version 0.7.x

Version 0.7 of Miranda IM was released on 1 October 2007. Key changes included integrated font and icon services, a rewritten menu engine, and a release notifier. One large change is a new way to uniquely identify plugins and the interfaces they implement which may break backward compatibility in the future. A 2008
CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
review gave the program 4 out of 5 stars, noting that though the interface is "plain", the program supports most IM protocols in one package. Features favored in the review included its centralized personal information management, "numerous" window behavior controls, and configurable hotkeys.CNET Staff (6 November 2008)
Miranda IM – CNET editors' review
''download.CNET.com''; CBS Interactive.
Techzine.nl reviewed this version, listing its positive attributes as "support for many protocols; small and fast; a lot of plug-ins and skins; many settings" and writing it "will not look bad on your computer. Especially if you are looking for a simple client on a USB stick then Miranda IM is a good choice." On the other hand, "if you are using WLM (
Windows Live Messenger MSN Messenger (also known colloquially simply as "Messenger"), later rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, was a cross-platform instant messaging client, instant-messaging client developed by Microsoft. It connected to the Microsoft Messenger ser ...
) and you find the settings of the program hard, ecan not recommend Miranda IM. The typical things like WLM's smilies, sounds, winks and games are not standard. You do get that functionality by the wide choice of skins and plug-ins, but for that you do some research and setting work." Authors Lui and Chan in ''Software Development Rhythms'' describe using Miranda IM's plugin architecture to copy, modify, and test existing plugins in order to develop "NAMMIK", a scriptable ICQ chatting bot used to interview people; they refer to Miranda IM's architecture as "simple and flexible".


Version 0.8.x

Version 0.8 of Miranda IM was released on 17 June 2009. It included a new Account Manager which supports multiple accounts per protocol (doing away with DLL renaming), built-in
SSL SSL may refer to: Entertainment * RoboCup Small Size League, robotics football competition * ''Sesame Street Live'', a touring version of the children's television show * StarCraft II StarLeague, a Korean league in the video game Natural language ...
support, various enhancements and bugfixes for the core and plugins. A PCWorld Magazine review of version 0.8.16 noted its addon capability, but stated, "Miranda's user interface leaves something to be desired" while referring to its login status icons, wishing for easier management and grouping of contacts, easy blocking/reporting of spammers, and ultimately recommending it "for those who use only surface capabilities of instant messengers."


Version 0.9.x

Version 0.9 of Miranda IM was released on 24 August 2010. It consists of many new features focused on improving Unicode support and overall protocol improvements. It is also the first Miranda IM version to feature an official 64-bit build.


Version 0.10.x

Version 0.10 of Miranda IM was released on 18 July 2012. It consists of enhancements to Miranda IM 0.9.x including improved language support and improved networking support. After years of being self-hosted, version 0.10.80 was transferred to SourceForge on 25 April 2018. the project has seen no activity since. Sometime in August 2019 the official Miranda IM website disappeared and was replaced by irrelevant boilerplate content.Wayback Machine – http://www.miranda-im.org/
/ref>


See also

*
Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients The landscape for instant messaging involves cross-platform instant messaging clients that can handle one or multiple protocols. Clients that use the same protocol can typically federate and talk to one another. The following table compares gener ...
*
Comparison of instant messaging protocols The following is a comparison of instant messaging protocols. It contains basic general information about the protocols. Table of instant messaging protocols See also *Comparison of cross-platform instant messaging clients *Comparison of Inte ...
* Comparison of Internet Relay Chat clients * Comparison of LAN messengers *
LAN messenger A LAN Messenger is an instant messaging program for computers designed for use within a single local area network (LAN). Many LAN Messengers offer basics functionality for sending private messages, file transfer, chatrooms and graphical smileys. Th ...
*
Windows Messenger service Messenger service is a network-based system notification Windows service by Microsoft that was included in some earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. This retired technology, although it has a similar name, is not related in any way to the l ...


References


External links

*
Official Miranda NG Wiki

Official Miranda NG source

Original Miranda IM source

Miranda IM Wiki
(Internet Archive copy)
Old Miranda IM development site
(inactive since 2015) {{IRC clients 2000 software Free instant messaging clients AIM (software) clients Free XMPP clients Internet Relay Chat clients Free Internet Relay Chat clients Windows Internet Relay Chat clients Windows-only instant messaging clients Portable software Yahoo! instant messaging clients