This is the software publisher's description.

Multi-platform instant messaging program. You can talk to your friends usingAIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, NovellGroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, and Zephyr.

Pidgin can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networkssimultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AIM, talkingto a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the sametime.

Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer,away messages, and typing notification. It also goes beyond that and providesmany unique features. A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give theability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when aspecific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle; and plugins,consisting of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification,iconify on away, spell checking, tabbed conversations, and more.

This is the Windows download. You can download other versions for otherplatforms, from the Pidgin website.