Which part is lame? She will still need IM accounts on the same IM network no matter which IM client she chooses to use. What I think is lame is your attempt to discredit Jeff’s great advice. For simplicity sake, I would have recommended the exact same advice Jeff did. Alternative IM clients are generally too confusing for new IM users, its best to stick with the official ones when starting out – in my opinion. So if you feel so strongly about MECA, why not back up your statement as to why using MECA will work better? Provide us with some better insight and reasoning.