I had a quick browse about for a Twitter client, and there are plenty, many require the .NET framework which I didn’t fancy installing unless I had to. So, from a shortlist of:

– Twadget, which sits in the Vista sidebar (and what a cracking name)

– MadTwitter, simple but effective

– Pwytter, written in Python

And the answer is: MadTwitter. It stays minimised and pops up when there’s a tweet, lets me post back (and succeeds, Twadget sometimes fails), and is fast (unlike Pwytter). It lacks plenty of features, but maybe that’s the point.