We all know that Second Life’s client is a resource hog and it will and can slow down even the best built gaming rig that is on the market today but wait there are alternatives especially if you just want to chat with your Second Life friends. In fact, you don’t have to log in using the Second Life’s client to chat and do some basic functions. Just grab these two lightweight Second Life clients and you are on your way to chatting in-world.

1. SLeek
2. AjaxLife

SLeek

SLeek is an open-source (BSD-style license), relatively lightweight client for Linden Lab’s Second Life virtual world. It allows you to perform basic in-world tasks such as chatting, IM, viewing Inventory, viewing Profiles, and more. It can be useful especially for lower-power computers, or if you only need the basic functionality of SL at the moment.

SLeek is currently in alpha status. Bugs may happen!

Here are some screenshots of SLeek in action:

What works:

• Logging in!
• Receiving and sending chat (whisper, say, shout) from agents and objects.
• Receiving a list of nearby agents.
• Teleporting.
• Sending and receiving IMs.
• People search.
• SLeek Scripting (runtime code compilation, can hook into SLeek/SLNetCom/libsecondlife).
• Inventory support (not all item types supported yet).
• Sending typing animation when typing.
• Setting away/busy status.
• Flying.
• Autopilot (+ flying).
• Profile viewing (basic).
• Receiving teleport offers.
• Debug log.
• Region search.
• Basic Friends functionality.
• Offering teleports to friends.

What doesn’t work (or just isn’t there yet):

• Groups functionality.
• Offline IMs
• Too much other stuff.

Shortcuts:

• Enter/Return: Says the inputted chat text.
• Ctrl+Enter: Shouts the inputted chat text.
• Ctrl+Shift+Enter: Whispers the inputted chat text.
• Ctrl+Alt+D: Toggles the Debug menu (next to Help, may take two or three tries).

Download SLeek

AjaxLife

AjaxLife is a project to build a web-based client for Second Life that does not rely on browser plugins, making it suitable for use where you cannot install plugins, e.g. at work, school, or games console.

You don’t need to download or install anything to use AjaxLife. It rans in your browser. Here are some screenshots of AjaxLife in action.

I’ve tried AjaxLife before but currently the server is down but you can still visit the developer’s blog for news and updates.

Note: Please remember that these 2 lightweight alternative Second Life clients can’t be used for camping. If you want to and if you are a programmer yourself then you can download the source code and modify it to your needs. They are Open Source.

Warning: Using these clients require that you enter your password to log in so be very careful in using them.