And here comes
Pidgin.
There is finally an explanation for the long delay of the Gaim 2.0 release (well over a year overdue now). There was a legal battle with AOL that was kept secret. During this legal battle, Gaim avoided releasing 2.0 final and instead chose to continue releasing beta versions. Based on their rhetoric, it sounds like 2.0 final could have been released far sooner.
As a result of this legal battle, Gaim had to undergo a name change. It is now called Pidgin.