Windows Live Messenger alternatives

Hi Guys,

For a while now I have been trying to find alternatives to the Windows Live Messenger official client but have not been able to find anything that supported everything that is supported in the official client. I find pidgin often misses some parts of conversations and people think I'm ignoring them.

So far, I stayed with the official client without looking too much just to talk with my friends that do not want to switch to other networks such as skype or gtalk, but the attached picture shows what decided me to completely ditch the windows live messenger client. And it is not the only problem with it, it also gets the focus, so when I am writing something, it gets the focus and I do not have the focus at the right place to write, and the problem with that is I am forced to use the mouse to continue writing as the alt+tab does not go back to the right window. In the picture you can see the client on the right side, which is on my secondary screen, and the ad on my primary screen.

I'm already blocking the ads in Firefox, I didn't mind the ads there, but forcing them up my throat is a no-no.

All that to say that if you guys know alternatives that are compatible with the windows live network I am ready to try them.

Anyone?

The ads are just what made me uninstall it, I've been trying to get rid of WLM for a while now. I'll look into Digsby, thanks for the suggestion!

I don't believe Ads are being forced on anyone. If someone doesn't like the Ads, don't use the FREE service.
Nothing is really free, so someone has to bear the cost of these networks and software.
I am happy to see a small Ad as long as I am not paying to use the service. Thats my trade off of choice.

The ads I don't mind, but when they take the focus and that I am trying to write something, that's when it bothers me and that I usually look for open-source alternatives. The sites I support I will not block the ads on them. I never liked the new version of WLM anyway.

I am in the process of trying Digsby, so I'll see if it turns out to be better than pidgin or if it has the same issues.

There is always google talk.
I don't seem to find anything annoying about it, you can turn off as much as you want.
And they don't take up half the page.