I use to use live messenger, but then Microsoft forced Skype upon us, at first I didn't like Skype, but as time has gone on I've grown to like it. The only thing that I don't like is that when you close the chat window, the conversation doesn't disappear like it use to with live messenger, I have to go into the Tools Options and manually clear the history even though it's set to "no history".
I switched from Windows Live Messenger 2009 to Trillian. Trillian is like MSN used to be, a non bloated chat client that looks nice, however that supports multiple IM networks. I currently have Trillian connected to Windows Live, Skype and sometimes Facebook Chat. Not my screenshots, however i really do not like Skype its just too big and bloated for me, especially as all i use it for is text chat. Some screenshots of Trillian (not mine):
I loved Skype before windows 8. I started out with MSN then went to AIM and now am at Skype, but Skype for windows 8 is just horrible (IMO). Now I think i'm going to have to find another one, that makes the metro theme work.