This table compares Jaber/Pidgin (which compares reasonably to most XMPP client/servers) to Pim. Note we're comparing against how we expect Pim to be in early 2013 - not Pim as it currently stands today (15th June 2012). Note however that many of the features have already been implemented in basic forms, so we'll add an asterisk* to entries that aren't currently up to par, but we expect to be by early 2013.
NOTE: this is not an exhaustive list of features.
Supported: both
Synchronised unread count: Pim only
Identical history: Pim only
Deals well with intermittent connectivity: Pim*
Bold/italic: Pim only by default
Distinctly formatted inline code: Pim only
Code blocks: Pim only (note: ours are syntax highlighted and
line numbered too)
Preformatted text: Pim only
Markdown-style short links: Pim only
Image embedding: Pim only by default
Easily add your own rules to the formatter: Pim only
Easily share these rules with others: Pim only
Message editing: Pim only (there are XMPP modules to do this)
Message deletion: Pim only (there are XMPP modules to do this)
Message version history: Pim only
At your fingertips feel: Pim only* (Pim apps can allow viewing
detailed meta data about messages - e.g. link to a specific GitHub
commit on Pim and an app can pull down the details of that commit and
render it inside Pim without you having to leave the window/chat or open
a web browser)
Pim supports WebHooks out of the box*, you can set these up with XMPP but it'll need work, and doesn't deal well with connectivity issues.
Pim has an HTTP API out of the box (* - under development).
Pim has a simple text/JSON based protocol - no XML stanzas.
Pim will* support most platform-agnostic bots in future, currently we already have support for Hubot
Pim runs over HTTPS, so you can access it anywhere. It has strong support for mobile, making most features available without compromising. All you need is a (decent, modern, JavaScript-enabled) web browser, or one of our native apps.
Pim will* have X-platform clients for Windows, Mac and Linux and it will* also support a wide range of web browsers.
Pim only runs over SSL (* well, you can access it over HTTP if you put some effort in and use a custom client).
Pim allows you to easily spawn a new channel to discuss a different topic with your team. Channels support access control features* not dissimilar to IRC.
We know the X in XMPP is for Extensible - but that's more about the protocol than the user interface. Pim's client is easily extensible by writing your own "apps" in JavaScript which can then easily be shared with other members of your team via Pim's App platform. Apps can add new formatting rules, give you deeper information about the content of your messages, and basically anything else* that you might need.
For example if you want to write #127 in a chat and it automatically
link to issue 127 in your bug tracker, you only need to write a very
simple app to add this rule to the formatter.
Or if you want Pim to recognise /\([a-f0-9]{7}\)/ in messages as a git
commit and pull metadata about that commit from your repository, you can
just write an app.
When you view something in chat, we think whoever you're chatting to should see the same thing, so we strive for consistency across platforms. Even your customizations can be easily shared so that others still see what you see.