Last November, I installed a Gaim 2.0 beta build as part of what has turned into my never-ending search for the perfect multi-protocol (GTalk + AIM) IM client. Gaim has been in development for a long time, and has matured into a generally solid and reliable app. One of the only gripes I've always had with it is the ugly UI.

Last Friday, Gaim was renamed Pidgin (a clever name!) to settle some trademark issues with AOL. At the same time, a new set of Tango artwork was also checked into the source tree. Since pre-compiled binaries containing the new artwork aren't available yet, I compiled my own build from source in Linux to check out the changes.

I think it looks pretty good so far, and I'll probably install it again on Windows when the final build is released.