My searches both here and online have not yielded a clear direction at this point - hence this post. If it's been addressed already (& recently) then let me know...

I have triplet daughters - age 12- who have discovered that IM is the coolest thing w/ their friends. I want to accomodate them as much as possible - given the usual security concerns of course. They each have an XP machine sitting behind an IPCop box. My question basically is: Is there a (inexpensive) secure IM client out there or is that an oxymoron (sorry - couldn't help that)?

I have them on limited accounts in XP - does that help on limiting potentially nasty downloads with IM? I have no experience with IM.

Normally I try to do a thorough research effort rather than post but then I more or less promised them I would get them up and running this w/e.