ars technica have posted up a review of the multi-platform IM client, Pidgin 2.0. Pidgin was formerly known as GAIM but from this release it has been renamed to avoid legal troubles with AOL. Aside from the name change, many things have been improved and polished including a more user-friendly and visually enhanced layout plus extensive plugin and scripting support.

It is still missing video & voice which will affect some people but for the majority of others it could prove a very nice alternative to single-protocol and ad/spy-ware filled clients.

Read the review @ ars technica