Annoying auto switch to chat when message is received

I can verify on XP, when the chat window is open in the background, it comes to front, and has focus every time a message is received.
However, when the window is minimized, it stays there without popping up.
It is the same for me on OpenBSD/Windowmaker.

I think this should be fixed together with bug #297580 (flashing windows when receiving a chat message). On Linux/KDE I have
this flashing window.

Maybe this one should be marked as a duplicate and then for the 0.96.20 there should be a fix for this ...

Sander, any proposal how to handle this?

Possibly, but Artem also mentions the sounds annoyance. Maybe a good solution for that is to play the sound only once in a minute as long as there are unread messages. So, until the user read all unread messages, the sound is played. Maybe the user should be able to change this time interval in the interface as some people might prefer or need longer or shorter intervals.

Related idea: it could be a good idea to play the sound multiple times or alter the tone and/or loudness of the sound based on the number of unread messages. For instance, consider this example:
* 1 new unread message --> Do (from the music scale)
* (one minute later) 2 unread messages --> Do
* (two minutes later) 5 unread messages --> Re
* (three minutes later) 10 unread messages --> Mi

It also can be like this (loudness):
* 1 new unread message --> ping
* (one minute later) 2 unread messages --> ping
* (two minutes later) 5 unread messages --> ping!
* (three minutes later) 10 unread messages --> PING

Or like this (playing the sound different times):
* 1 new unread message --> ping
* (one minute later) 2 unread messages --> ping
* (two minutes later) 5 unread messages --> ping,ping
* (three minutes later) 10 unread messages --> ping,ping,ping

it also can be a good idea to combine both the music scale differentiation and the loudness differentiation. The music scale then indicates the number of unread messages, whilst the loudness indicates the age of the oldest message. If you are far away from your desk and still hear the sound because it became so loud, you know at least one contact is waiting on your reply for multiple minutes. You then know you have to hurry you because she may become impatient. Based on the music scale, you also have an indication of the number of contacts who tried to contact you during your absence.

No! No periodic sounds please, or make it optional (able to turn on/off).
I hate sound and many peolpe do.
Blinking is better, a lot better.

Sound is better for people who hate blinking...it's a matter of taste ;-)

Anyway, the sound notifications I propose should only be played if the chat window was not active, minimized or closed. Also, the user should be able to extend the interval the notifications are played. So, you can have a situation like this:

**10.00.00: chat window inactive, minimized or closed
10.00.01: incoming message from contact1 -> sound
10.00.05: incoming message from contact2 -> NO sound
10.00.09: incoming message from contact3 -> NO sound
10.00.15: incoming message from contact1 -> NO sound
10.01.25: incoming message from contact2 -> NO sound
10.01.45: incoming message from contact4 -> NO sound
10.02.01: sound as a reminder 2 minutes after the first unread message
10.02.05: incoming message from contact1 -> NO sound
10.03.07: incoming message from contact2 -> NO sound
**10.03.10: chat window activated
10.03.27: incoming message from contact3 -> NO sound
**10.03.47: presence status changes to away
10.04.01: NO sound
10.04.55: incoming message from contact1 -> NO sound
10.05.07: incoming message from contact2 -> NO sound

Some advantages:
* If you don't want to be bothered by sounds when you leave your computer, you can simply keep the chat window opened.
* Sounds become a reminder instead of an annoying jingling.
* The user can define the reminder interval. If she sets it to "zero", sounds will be disabled. If she sets it to "infinite", sounds will only once be played when the first message is received.