Editing Tencent QQ (section)

==Open source and cross-platform clients==
Using [[reverse engineering]], open source [[communities]] have come to understand the QQ protocol better and have attempted to implement client core libraries compatible with more user-friendly clients, free of advertisements. Most of these clients are cross-platform, so they are usable on operating systems which the official client does not support. However, these implementations had only a subset of functions of the official client and therefore were limited in features. Furthermore, QQ's parent company, Tencent, has over successive versions modified the QQ protocol to the extent that it can no longer be supported by most, and perhaps any, of the third-party implementations that were successful in the past (some of which are listed below).  As of 2009, none of the developers of third-party clients have publicized any plans to restore QQ support.

* [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]], also known as: [[GAIM]] an open source cross-platform [[Multiprotocol instant messaging application|multiprotocol client]], with third-party [[Plug-in (computing)|plugin]].
* [[Adium]], an open source macOS client, with third-party plugin built on top of libqq-pidgin
* [[Kopete]], an open source multiprotocol client by [[KDE]]
** Note: Kopete, old versions of Pidgin, and any other client whose QQ support was based on libpurple no longer supports QQ as of May 2011<ref>{{cite web|title=Pidgin Developer Website|url=http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13193|access-date=2011-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019072539/http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/13193|archive-date=2011-10-19|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Miranda NG]], an open source [[Multiprotocol instant messaging application|multiprotocol client]], designed for [[Microsoft Windows]], with MirandaQQ2<ref>{{cite web |url=http://addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=3348 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219141747/http://addons.miranda-im.org/details.php?action=viewfile&id=3348 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-02-19 |title= MirandaQQ2 |publisher=Miranda IM - Addons |date=2010-12-25 |access-date=2011-01-14 }}</ref> plugin.
* Eva
*[[Trillian (software)|Trillian]], is a Multiprotocol [[Instant Messaging]] [[Software]] made as [[Freeware]] Developed by Cerulean Studios which ran off [[Plug-in (computing)|Plugins]] to connect to things such as: [[AIM (software)|AIM]], [[ICQ]], [[Yahoo Messenger]], [[MSN Messenger]] and [[XMPP/Jabber]].