| Introduction A 'subscription' to any of the
leading instant messenger services will allow you to communicate in real time with any
friends, relatives, colleagues or other people who have access to that service.
Instant messaging has many of the advantages of email but additionally allows you
to communicate directly and interactively with other users who are currently online.
Some services even provide live voice and video communication for users with
appropriate equipment.
In the majority of cases, instant messaging services are not
compatible with each other so, for the greatest flexibility, you may find that you
need to subscribe to more than one service. This is not a great problem because, in
general, messaging services are now provided free of charge. Also, some of the newer
services have a high degree of compatibility with older services (see Paltalk and IMICI,
below), significantly increasing their attractiveness to established users.
Leading Providers
There are very many organisations providing instant messaging facilities.
Some services have been available for a long time - ten years or more, in some
cases - while others are very new. Some carry out the messaging task with a very high
degree of polish and sophistication, while others have much simpler and more basic
objectives. The following, in no particular order, are currently the leading
players in the marketplace. (Unless otherwise indicated, their messaging
services are free of charge and require only that the relevant item of software is
downloaded from the web and installed on your PC.)
1. Microsoft MSN Web Messenger
As you might expect, MSN integrates very neatly with other Microsoft
products and services, such as Internet Explorer and Hotmail, and this is a definite plus
point. The latest implementation of MSN Messenger is Windows Live Messenger and this
version provides a range of new facilities - including voice and video communication - but
only works with the most recent versions of Windows. Earlier versions of MSN are,
however, available for download for use with earlier versions of the Windows
operating system.
To learn more about MSN Web Messenger, and to download the necessary
software, please go HERE .
2. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Following a change of policy at AOL, Instant
Messenger is now a free service. You can now use this product free of charge and
without subscribing to AOL as your internet serice provider (ISP).
To learn more about AOL Instant Messenger, and to download the necessary
software, please go HERE.
3. Yahoo Messenger
This product is part of the renowned Yahoo web
portal service but is freely available for stand-alone use.
To learn more about Yahoo Messenger, and to download the necessary
software, please go HERE.
4. ICQ
ICQ stands for 'I Seek You' and is now a very well
established service, having been around for about ten years. It was launced by
a small Israeli company, Mirabilis, and represented an important step forward because it
made it unnecessary to subscribe to a particular network, such as AOL, to obtain instant
messaging services. (However, as noted above, AOL's instant messaging service
no longer requires that you subcribe to AOL an your Internet Service
Provider.) ICQ has achieved a very significant degree of penetration in
the marketplace, and is worthy of your serious consideration.
To learn more about ICQ, and to download the necessary software, please go
HERE. (The latest version is currently
v5.1 but earlier versions are also available for download.)
5. Paltalk Messenger 8
Paltalk Messenger 8 is a wide-ranging instant
messaging service with lots of bells and whistles. It describes itself as the world's
largest video chat community which may not appeal to all web users. Paltalk also has the
advantage of being compatible with AIM, Yahoo and ICQ
To learn more about Paltalk Messenger 8, and to download the necessary
software, please go HERE.
6. IMICI Messenger
IMICI Messenger has the advantage of being
compatible with AIM, Yahoo and ICQ
To learn more about IMICI Messenger, and to download the necessary
software, please go HERE. (Apologies. The link to IMICI Messenger is temporarily
unavailable. Watch this space for further information.)
7. SKYPE
Skype is a relatively new service. The main
feature of this one is that it allows you to make free telephone calls via your internet
connection.
To learn more about Skype, and to download the necessary software, please
go HERE.
Our Recommendation
Despite the problems of compatibility, it is probably best to start with a
single messaging service, and learn how to use it properly before experimenting more
widely. Also, there is much to be said for starting with the market leader, as this
immediately gives you access to a very large number of other users. Currently the
market leader appears to be either MSN (from Microsoft) or AIM (from AOL), so either of
these services might be a good place to start.
In Conclusion
If you wish to see a detailed comparison of all the main online messaging
services currently available, and the are now a surprising number of them, there is a very
useful comparison table in the online encyclopaedia 'Wikipedia'. To view this table,
please go HERE and search for 'Instant Messenger'.
|