Pidgin 2.6.1 Adds Voice and Video Support

Everyone's favorite multi-platform instant messaging client, Pidgin, got a major update last week that includes support for voice and video. Pidgin 2.6.1 also includes more than 200 bugfixes and patches, plus a few additional new features that may not be as sexy as voice and video but are still great to have.

Other cool new features include:

* Theming support for buddy list, sounds, and status icons

New Yahoo protocol plugins

A new service discovery browser plugin

Custom smiley support and updated buddy icon support

Optional support for GNU libidn

New authentication mechanism for AIM

TinyURL plugin and bug fixes for Finch

Some, but not all, Linux distributions are offering Pidgin's new update. Team developer John Bailey says, "I'm hoping most distributions will be able to catch up with this soon and make it completely effortless for users, but this is a headache even for some distributions. The biggest setback thus far is we're currently not able to support these features on Windows--but we're working on it! Please be patient!" Fortunately, you can go grab it right from the project's Web site and start using it right away.