Cerulean Studios, the company behind multi-protocol instant-messaging application Trillian has been keeping quite busy. More so on the Windows side, but hey, Microsoft’s operating system does hold the lion’s share of the market. For the Windows user, Cerulean Studios released the final version of Trillian 4.1 (a.k.a Astra) late last month. Trillian Astra comes with “hundreds of new changes, including mail improvements, Windows 7 integration, an improved status control, and powerful new Twitter and Facebook features.”

The Windows version of Trillian is a properly good piece of software and a lot of effort has gone into developing it. Don’t think Cerulean Studios has forgotten about the other popular operating system, Microsoft’s rival, the Mac OS X. Trillian for Mac is not as far ahead as its Windows counterpart, but its development process is moving along.

An early 1.0 Alpha of Trillian for Mac has been developed and released to the public by Cerulean Studios. The company would very much like Mac users to download and test the app. A special area on Cerulean Studios’ forums has been opened for testers to provide their feedback.

If you’re going to get Trillian for Mac 1.0 Alpha, you might as well know what you’re getting yourself into. The software comes with the following features:

• - Networks: Astra, Windows Live, Yahoo!, Facebook Chat, AIM, ICQ, XMPP, Google Talk, Bonjour, MySpaceIM.
• - Contact list: identities, groups, MetaContacts, searching, drag-and-drop, inline renaming, avatars, service icons.
• - Quick ‘click-to-type’ nickname and status changes, including iTunes tracking.
• - Standard Trillian iconholder and avatar display.
• Smart tabbed conversation windows (tabs on demand) with typing indicators, bubble view, emoticons, links.
• Login screen and support for multiple accounts.
• Basic preferences screen, connection manager, full suite of per-connection preferences.
• File transfers and a file transfer manager.
• Activity history framework – logs are being written to disk in standard Trillian format (XML, LOG).
• Support for most standard Mac hotkeys for flipping through windows, opening preferences, etc.
• Basic dock integration and badging.
• Auto update

And these noticeable absences:

• Social network “feed” integration (Twitter, Facebook streams).
• Mail integration.
• Many major preferences and customization options – including things like list view, list size, and themes.
• Group conversations.
• Growl integration, “Status Item” support, and a general notification framework (think Win32 system tray stuff).
• Activity history viewer – you can’t view your logs yet, and there’s no auto-history in chat windows.
• Voice and video support.
• Setting your personal avatar.

To get started with Trillian for Mac 1.0 Alpha, visit the official webpage here.