FREE Universal IM Client?

[wouldya]

does anyone use IM+?

I had Webmessenger (which is a great IM client, fairly priced [one time price[) but for some reason, I cannot view text in the chat window. So rather than do a hard reset (I think it's the Threaded SMS that's doing it) I was looking at IM+. I tried the trial version and I am satisfied with it.

I just want to know if it's always-on like AOL/AIM and will drain that battery if left running, or is it like Webmessenger / Agile that just updates itself every 30-45 seconds or so and keeps mainly an idle data connection.