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Twitter, which I’m sure most of us have heard of is a micro-blogging service and a social network. It’s a nice way to post updates to friends, family, colleagues and even total strangers. Twitter has a web based interface, but a lot of users are now using apps (or applications) to post updates to twitter faster and easier. In light of this, I’m sharing with you a list of the Top 5 Popular Desktop Twitter Clients!

Digsby

Digsby is an All-In-One application for IM, Social Networking and Email. It’s free, and easy to install, not to mention that it’s cross platform, though it has a few downfalls which are explained below.

Digsby is an free, all-in-one, cross-platform Instant Messaging and Social Network application. It handles almost all IM platforms, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn as well as Email accounts. It doesn’t require Adobe AIR or any additional software to run, and best of all it’s free!

Digsby is perfect for those who use multiple social-network platforms and instant messaging services due to its ability to login to various different accounts on single services. It includes twitter compatibility, along with other social networks as well. It’s twitter functions are very standard and includes the basic twitter features such as a Timeline for updates, an @reply area where you can view all your @replies along with your Direct Messages, Archives (For all tweets) and Favorites.

It offers a single window inside digsby that allows you to post updates, reply to tweets, Direct Message others and favorite tweets. It’s usability is quite standard, though simple is sometimes best (Refer to the KISS principal). It can be sometimes a little too responsible or unresponsive to clicks and Digsby offers not many options for customizing their twitter feature apart from update throttling. If your looking at Digsby for a standalone twitter app you’ll find it’s a little bloated for what your sole purpose is.

Twhirl

Twhirl is another popular application used for Twitter. Features i most like are the fact you can use Multiple accounts and it cross-posts to my Facebook, Linkedin and more…

Twhirl is another desktop twitter client built upon Adobe’s AIR Platform which allows for cross-platform compatibility. Twhirl includes all of your main features you’d expect from a desktop client, and a little more.

Twhirl allows you to use multiple twitter accounts to post updates – this may come in handy if you use multiple twitter accounts like i do and some of the Envato crew do. It’s got a nifty spell checking feature which comes in handy for those late nights where your spelling isn’t up to par as usual. It includes integration with Twitpic so you can post photos directly through Twhirl and integration with Seesmic so you can post video directly from Twhirl. Other integrations include Identi.ca & Laconi.ca and can act as a FriendFeed client as well.

Some features that i found Twhirl has which aren’t found in other apps such as Tweetdeck are the extra integrations as mentioned above, the ability to view your friends & followers from directly inside Twhirl. It includes a nice way of presenting a lot of information in such a small window through good organizational techniques.

If i was to find a few downfalls with Twhirl i would say that i find it can occasionally be a little resource (CPU/RAM) intensive while loading. The general user interface feels cluttered to me and as if everything was being jammed into a small window. If you get a lot of tweets from people you follow it can be difficult at times to distinguish read and unread tweets. Twhirl is a good contender for the top spot of desktop tweeting apps!

Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck would be at least one of the Most Popular Twitter applications with features such as searching, groups, posting to Twitpic, Growl like notifications and a customizable UI, It’s the perfect App for those Twitterers that follow a large number of Users and receive a high volume of Tweets.

Tweetdeck is a Cross-Platform Application built upon Adobe’s AIR Platform. It’s regarded as one of the most popular desktop tweet programs due to it’s great features that allows you to put a whole new look on twitter and managing incoming and outgoing tweets. It has built in searching, grouping, integration with integration with TwitPic, TwitScoop, StockTwits, 12 Seconds, Twitter Counter, URL Shorteners (Such as TinyURL) and more.

A nifty feature Tweetdeck includes is Groups, Groups allows you to select a set of people you follow and have their updates split into a new section/panel of the Tweetdeck UI. This is one of the great management features of Tweetdeck. Speaking of the panel-based layout of Tweetdeck, There are 3 Default Panels: All Friends (Which displays the tweets of the people your following), Replies (Queries the Twitter API and reports back @ replies) and Direct Messages.

As mentioned above Tweetdeck includes integration with TwitPic, TwitScoop, StockTwits, 12 Seconds, Twitter Counter, URL Shorteners (Such as TinyURL). It also has Search, now this isn’t just user search it’s the TTwitter Search

Tweetdeck now includes Multiple Account support, so you can tweet from more than one account! I love this feature and use it a lot…

Twitterific

Twitterifc has been called “Clean And Simple”, “Slick” and “Perfect”. It’s got lots of features, a Clean and Simple and was built by a reputable company – Iconfactory. Twitterific sounds to me as it’s the perfect twitter solution for Mac users!

Twitterific is a Mac based twittering platform, It’s one of the most popular clients for Mac users when it comes to desktop tweeting. With it’s small and lightweight footprint it also offers a nice set of features.

Twitterific not only offers a desktop client, but also a app for iPhone/iTouch as well for mobile tweeting on the go!

Twitterific includes a clean and simple interface and tucks away in the menu bar to keep screen clutter away. Twitterific offers support for multiple twitter accounts, so this can come in handy if you have two ore more twitter accounts for different purposes, though this is not the best feature. The greatest feature in Twitterific is it’s configureability (Ed. Is that a real word?). It offers options to edit refresh times, window transparency, expanding and collapsing tweets, automatic start up, integration with Audium/iChat/Skype and more.

Some mac users probably know of and use AppleScript, for those who don’t know what it is, It’s basically a scripting platform to Automate tasks. Though twittterific’s support of AppleScript is basic, it does allow you to send a tweet while using any other software. Twitterific offers keyboard shortcuts to speed up common tasks.

There are several missing features that are important, and they’re included in other apps such as Tweetdeck and Twhirl. Features such as the ability to Retweet with ease, no in-built URL shortening or integration with Twitpic or Twitscoop. Another downfall is that there is no ability to display favorite tweets, friends, followers, replies and direct messages (On their own).

Twitterific is a great program due to it’s lightweight footprint, Configuration options and it’s sheer simplicity. and it’s well worth the $14.95 it’s sold for. Though there are things than can be improved, It stills holds it’s spot as the top-dog for Mac users who want a desktop client. I’m hoping Iconfactory will fix some of the missing features in the next version of Twitterific.

DestroyTwitter

DestroyTwitter is a great app which I’ve noticed has caused a bit of a stir among the Twitter community with it’s great features and cross-platform usability.

Destroy Twitter is another Adobe AIR based cross-platform tweeting application. DestroyTwitter is a fairly new twitter application developed by Jonnie Hallman. It’s features an interface similar to Tweetdeck with your panels:

• Home, Replies and DMs
• Search, Saved and Sent
• Prefences, Account and People

Each panel’s name pretty much speaks for it’s content. Some Twitter terms are given different naming conventions such as Favorites, they’re called Saved Tweets. DestroyTwitter includes some nifty features right within it such as themeing, profile editing, integration with TwitPic and Tweetshrink and more. The best feature would be the ability to change settings and your profile right within DestroyTwitter.

The ‘Away’ Mode in DestroyTwitter is one i particularly like because it halt’s tweet updates until you disable it, I will sometimes leave my computer on overnight and wake up to find a hundred or so tweets in which i sift through. This is where the Away mode comes into play and will update you with tweets when you disable Away Mode.

A few other interesting features in DestroyTwitter include the themeing ability which allows you to import color schemes into DestroyTwitter. DestroyTwitter has a nice design and layout which is similar to TweetDeck. If there were to be any improvements to DestroyTwitter they would be multiple accounts, but With only 10 days of development/design put into making the first release it’s a great app!.Keep a watch out for more great features from Jonnie Hallman.

If your more into Web Apps for Twitter, Check out these 10 Nifty Web Apps.

There are many other great apps out there! What are your favorites? Have fun Tweeting!