Adium is a free instant-messaging application for Mac OS X that can connect to AIM, MSN, Jabber, Yahoo and, most recently, Twitter and IRC. Version 1.4b1 is now available for free download and, for the first time in the app's history, requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later.

When it was initially released, Adium 1.3 added a slew of new features and enhancements, including a complete redesign of the Contact Inspector (formerly, the Get Info Window), a Facebook Chat service, a search field to the Standard Contact List window, and more. Along those lines, the app's developer issued many bug fixes, as well as a couple of new features. Most recently, Adium was updated to pidgin-facebook 1.5.0, fixing a major bug in which massive amounts of data could be continuously sent and received under certain situations, as well as several minor bugs.

Now, Adium 1.4 Beta 1, immediately available for free download here, on Softpedia, brings support for two highly requested features – Twitter and IRC. The 1.4 beta also has an updated core network engine, a new aggregate authorization window, as well as changes with the functionality and appearance of group chats. The Adium beta site lists the following Major Changes:

– Requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later;
– Added Twitter;
– Added IRC;
– Greatly improved group chats and group chat bookmarks;
– Updated to libpurple 2.6.0.

Adium combines numerous IM protocols, such as the AOL Instant Messenger (including ICQ and .Mac), Jabber (including Google Talk), MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, Novell Groupwise and Lotus Sametime. The IM client also gives users the possibility to connect with multiple types of accounts at the same time, combining all their friend groups into one big list. Supported buddy icons comprise AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! The IM Mac client has a customizable appearance as well.

Download Adium Beta (Free)

Download Adium Stable for Tiger and Leopard (Free)