Spaz

Spaz is a Twitter client based on Adobe AIR. Besides Twitter, it can be used with services like Identi.ca and StatusNet.

It is an open-source application that allows you to access all the functions offered by the most popular micro-blogging service right from your desktop.

Spaz has an attractive, yet simple interface with different tabs that give you access to your timeline, sent tweets, mentions, favorite tweets, followers, etc. Alternatively, you can use keystrokes for quick access to any of these sections. You can refresh your timeline anytime, filter tweets, fave, retweet, and reply just like you do in Twitter. One feature I liked is that you can set up notifications with sound for certain events, like mentions or direct messages. When writing a tweet, the app brings up a toolbar with options to shorten URLs and save your tweet as a draft.

Another interesting feature of Spaz is the customization possibilities it offers; you can change the app's theme, set its opacity, and even add your own CSS overrides to completely personalize its appearance.

To get started you need to configure a few things, choose the services you want to connect, and enter the login details. In my case, this step was quite complicated because the app would give me an authentication error. Updating the app to its latest, beta version (0.9.24) solved the problem and I could finally access my account from Spaz.

Aside from this problem, the application works very well and is a good alternative among Twitter clients because of its design, customization options, and the features it offers.