Explain AIM ICQ MSM to me

[Alan Waddington]

I've never used any of these, but gather they are all instant messaging apps. Can someone clue me in to the differences between AIM ICQ and MSM & the pros & cons of each. I've seen some posts recently about people having their instant messenging accounts hacked into & spammed. Is this a real problem? What about these viruses that spread by instant messenging?

What ever happened to IRC? (I used that years ago).

Yours ignorantly & behing the times

Alan

[Sociable]

The three you mention are probably the main ones Aim being the AOL one MSN being the Microsoft one and ICQ being a largely independant service.

In each case you will need to be running the same program as those you wish to chat with so the answer is that is the only real critera to use.

Many of us regularly use all three and maybe also add in the Yahooo variety too.

There are also programs like "Trillian" which will allow you to combine the features of all of the above in one easy to use program.

btw IRC is alive and well but tends to be used mostly for specialist groups rather than general chat so you may have to do a little research to locate IRC servers that carry forums that will be of interest.

Yes there are a few problems with hacking and spamming but most can be overcome relatively easily. If ever a problem presents itself simply post about it here and I'm sure many will be able to help sort it.

[Alan Waddington]

Thanks sociable for the info. There seems to be more clients (some of which do multiple protocols) then you can shake a stick at.

[philip.j.fry]

Be prepared for your computer to be taken over, not as the result of a hack but like real player, the major IM software like aim and msn attempts to assert domination over your computer when you install it, displying ads, running at startup etc. All these options can be switched off but they are a total pain in the **** initially. rant over

[cjll3]

Originally posted by Sociable
The three you mention are probably the main ones Aim being the AOL one MSN being the Microsoft one and ICQ being a largely independant service.

*cough* you mean ICQ also being AOL

[distortal]

Download Trillian and input all of your account details into that . It's a multi-IM client supporting AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo (create a Hotmail account and use those details for MSN) and it's very small and compact. Go through the skins on the website as well and pick something you like. I recommend Aikon2 Classic LCD.

To prevent being repeatedly spammed by '20-something females from Brazil looking to chat with hot young guys like you', make sure that you only accept messages from people already in your address book. Unless you want that sort of thing, natch.

Trillian is available here.

[Alan Waddington]

Thanks everyone

[MadGamer]

I find that MSN Messenger 6.0 is the best and you can even download Messenger Plus from www.msgplus.net

Really Cool

[zoombini]

Yahoo Messenger is very open to you being booted off of the service - often.