I agree that an extension is totally wrong for what I'm thinking. I'm thinking more along the lines of a gmail type thing where you just login and its there. I totally forgot that extensions are tied to the browser you install them in...

Luckily I'm not using windows anymore so I'm using Adium which is pretty slick. It uses tabs for conversations and does all the AIM, msn, yahoo, icq etc...

It would be really cool if you could access your IM from any computer, but I don't think this is it. Installing a Firefox extension isn't much different than installing an entire program, it's just a bit more convenient I suppose... Most knowledgeable admins would disable users from being able to install Firefox extensions anyway.

Plus, I don't like the idea of my IM needs being tied down to Firefox any more than I like it being tied down to IE. If the IM client could be accessed through the browser (ie, truly web-based) that would be very cool.

Check out Miranda if you're tied down to Windows, btw. It's like Trillian, only it doesn't look like it's UI was inspired by a 2 week LSD binge, and it has support for multiple protocols.

Also I've never used Gaim or Miranda so you probably know better...

Maybe you're right...

What if it was done well? Like use tabs the way Adium does?

I just want to have access to everything, my files, my email, IM , etc from any computer I get on.

Ew, ew, ew.. I think I'll stick to Gaim or Miranda.

That just brings back painful memories of that terrible Mozilla IRC client. Webapps good, Browser Apps bad.