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Instant Messengers
Jragghen
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This is not a "what IM do you use," although it can certainly include that. Rather, this is concerning what sort of functionality you want your IM program to be able to have, and what direction you would like IM to go with. Also, spoilers at the end are personal whoring, spoilered because I didn't want them to detract from the rest of the post.
So first, a little background.
While email and bulletin boards served nicely as early means of communication on the Internet, it was inevitable that a real-time communication service would arise. Early forms arose as either peer-to-peer or server based, and started off as means for multiple users on the same machine to communicate, later expanding to encompass communication on the Internet as well. The grand-daddy of them all, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), was an example of the server-based protocol which came to dominate modern IM structure. Still widely in use today, it started as a text-only service, later expanding to provide many features. While allowing for individuals to directly message one another, it differs from most of the other popular IM services by focusing around "channels," or rooms where many users can login. There are simply too many features and attributes to document here, not the least of which are the varying levels of permissions in individual rooms, the capabilities of bots, sending individual files between peers, and many more. Oddly enough, many people do not associate IRC with what Instant Messaging has become (or even know that it exists), so we might be better suited moving onto the five primary clients/protcols (in order of introduction).
ICQ came on the scene in 1996. It was very feature-rich and actually was the only IM system to have many of these features (for example: resumable file transfer, offline messaging) for a long while. Individual users were assigned a UIN (starting with five digits and growing - over 400,000,000 UINs have been assigned). This allowed users to change their names at will, but could make adding additional users moderately difficult or tedious. In 1998, ICQ's parent company was purchased by AOL, and from 2000 onward, ICQ and AIM users were able to communicate with one another in their individual clients. More on this later.
AOL Instant Messenger was the second major IM client out the door, released in 1997. Like most of the other major clients, it is feature rich, providing chatrooms, games, voice, video, and a variety of other features. The most recent version released includes RSS feeds for changes to user accounts, individual web pages for every name, and opening of the client to developers. AIM was unique from ICQ in that individual users registered permanent names to identify themselves, which fixed the visual listing of an individual on the IM list, both a pro and a con.
Yahoo came out with their own instant messenger in 1998. It featured integration with its other Yahoo account features, including email, and other items. Like the other major clients, it now has a variety of features, including the first client to include buzzing (shaking the receiver's IM window), music status, and customizable IM windows. Later on, Yahoo and MSN merged protocols, but once more, more on that later.
.NET Messenger, formerly MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger/Windows Live! Messenger/however many other names they've given it is Microsoft's Instant Messenger. Registration required a valid email (initial a hotmail or msn email), but allowed the user to change what their visible screenname. It was first released in 1999, and often seemed to come out with unique features, such as whiteboards, merging with Xbox Live, etc.
/ 
Finally, we have Jabber, an open standards Instant Messenger protocol, most widely used in Google Talk. Jabber was first released in 2000, Google Talk in 2005, primarily as a VoIP chat product. Jabber is particularly unique by allowing for individuals to set up their own servers, providing much flexibility. Usernames are set up in a format similar to that of emails, but not precisely. Google Talk is integrated with GMail, and offers a number of other features, and can communicate with other Jabber clients.
In addition to these clients, there are a large number of other ones which could easily be mentioned, but don't seem to hold as much mindshare/marketshare. A particular nod should be given to Skype, but it is designed to be more of an Internet Telephony program as opposed to an Instant Messenger. Furthermore, there are far more programs which I am less familiar with, such as QQ, an asian IM program with a massive following, Gadu-Gadu, Xfire - which I'm sure many of you are more familiar with, using it to coordinate for online gaming, and Sametime, IBM's enterprise solution.
Now, with this fracturing of the marketplace into separate protocols and clients, it lead to the difficulty of herd mentality. Two solutions have arisen to combat this problem, neither one of them completely solving the problem. First, and primary among these was the usage of programs which could connect to multiple protocols. Examples are Gaim, Miranda, Adium, and Trillian. These programs allows for all the user lists to be combined into a single one, but still necessitated a user account for every protocol the user wished to use. Additionally, some deals have been struck by different companies, merging protocols - AIM and ICQ users can IM one another, as can MSN and Yahoo. Google Talk also will be able to connect to AIM in future upgrades. Ideally, all IM protocols would be able to talk with one another and the different programs would compete off the basis of features, but that may not necessarily happen
Moving forward
So here we get to what this thread is actually about - we have a slew of programs, a number of protocols, varyign yet similar featuresets - but what do people want?
One of the more successful recent ventures was the AJAX client, Meebo, which allows for individuals to access their IM list and usernames from a browser window - essentially a much more powerful and user friendly version of AIM Express, AOL's own browser-based client, while allowing access to all protocols. In addition to this, meebo began to offer meeboMe, what amounted to an IM window docked on a webpage, where users could instantly contact the admin of a webpage without needing an IM client of their own.
In another direction, the next generation Trillian client, Trillian Astra appears to be trying to abstract the various protocols into a single account, which will allow users to contact an individual without needing the separate protocol name, as well as combining this information into the social networking scheme that has been found around the Internet.
So, we've gone from basic text chat rooms to individual user lists with the ability to draw, play games, voice and video chat, transfer files, and a slew of other items - what features do you actually use, or want in an IM? What would you like to see in the future? Do you expect IM protocols to eventually coalesce into a single entity, inter-operable with one another? Would you rather maintain the differentiation between products?
So first, a little background.
While email and bulletin boards served nicely as early means of communication on the Internet, it was inevitable that a real-time communication service would arise. Early forms arose as either peer-to-peer or server based, and started off as means for multiple users on the same machine to communicate, later expanding to encompass communication on the Internet as well. The grand-daddy of them all, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), was an example of the server-based protocol which came to dominate modern IM structure. Still widely in use today, it started as a text-only service, later expanding to provide many features. While allowing for individuals to directly message one another, it differs from most of the other popular IM services by focusing around "channels," or rooms where many users can login. There are simply too many features and attributes to document here, not the least of which are the varying levels of permissions in individual rooms, the capabilities of bots, sending individual files between peers, and many more. Oddly enough, many people do not associate IRC with what Instant Messaging has become (or even know that it exists), so we might be better suited moving onto the five primary clients/protcols (in order of introduction).
ICQ came on the scene in 1996. It was very feature-rich and actually was the only IM system to have many of these features (for example: resumable file transfer, offline messaging) for a long while. Individual users were assigned a UIN (starting with five digits and growing - over 400,000,000 UINs have been assigned). This allowed users to change their names at will, but could make adding additional users moderately difficult or tedious. In 1998, ICQ's parent company was purchased by AOL, and from 2000 onward, ICQ and AIM users were able to communicate with one another in their individual clients. More on this later.
AOL Instant Messenger was the second major IM client out the door, released in 1997. Like most of the other major clients, it is feature rich, providing chatrooms, games, voice, video, and a variety of other features. The most recent version released includes RSS feeds for changes to user accounts, individual web pages for every name, and opening of the client to developers. AIM was unique from ICQ in that individual users registered permanent names to identify themselves, which fixed the visual listing of an individual on the IM list, both a pro and a con.
Yahoo came out with their own instant messenger in 1998. It featured integration with its other Yahoo account features, including email, and other items. Like the other major clients, it now has a variety of features, including the first client to include buzzing (shaking the receiver's IM window), music status, and customizable IM windows. Later on, Yahoo and MSN merged protocols, but once more, more on that later.
.NET Messenger, formerly MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger/Windows Live! Messenger/however many other names they've given it is Microsoft's Instant Messenger. Registration required a valid email (initial a hotmail or msn email), but allowed the user to change what their visible screenname. It was first released in 1999, and often seemed to come out with unique features, such as whiteboards, merging with Xbox Live, etc.
/ Finally, we have Jabber, an open standards Instant Messenger protocol, most widely used in Google Talk. Jabber was first released in 2000, Google Talk in 2005, primarily as a VoIP chat product. Jabber is particularly unique by allowing for individuals to set up their own servers, providing much flexibility. Usernames are set up in a format similar to that of emails, but not precisely. Google Talk is integrated with GMail, and offers a number of other features, and can communicate with other Jabber clients.
In addition to these clients, there are a large number of other ones which could easily be mentioned, but don't seem to hold as much mindshare/marketshare. A particular nod should be given to Skype, but it is designed to be more of an Internet Telephony program as opposed to an Instant Messenger. Furthermore, there are far more programs which I am less familiar with, such as QQ, an asian IM program with a massive following, Gadu-Gadu, Xfire - which I'm sure many of you are more familiar with, using it to coordinate for online gaming, and Sametime, IBM's enterprise solution.
Now, with this fracturing of the marketplace into separate protocols and clients, it lead to the difficulty of herd mentality. Two solutions have arisen to combat this problem, neither one of them completely solving the problem. First, and primary among these was the usage of programs which could connect to multiple protocols. Examples are Gaim, Miranda, Adium, and Trillian. These programs allows for all the user lists to be combined into a single one, but still necessitated a user account for every protocol the user wished to use. Additionally, some deals have been struck by different companies, merging protocols - AIM and ICQ users can IM one another, as can MSN and Yahoo. Google Talk also will be able to connect to AIM in future upgrades. Ideally, all IM protocols would be able to talk with one another and the different programs would compete off the basis of features, but that may not necessarily happen
Moving forward
So here we get to what this thread is actually about - we have a slew of programs, a number of protocols, varyign yet similar featuresets - but what do people want?
One of the more successful recent ventures was the AJAX client, Meebo, which allows for individuals to access their IM list and usernames from a browser window - essentially a much more powerful and user friendly version of AIM Express, AOL's own browser-based client, while allowing access to all protocols. In addition to this, meebo began to offer meeboMe, what amounted to an IM window docked on a webpage, where users could instantly contact the admin of a webpage without needing an IM client of their own.
In another direction, the next generation Trillian client, Trillian Astra appears to be trying to abstract the various protocols into a single account, which will allow users to contact an individual without needing the separate protocol name, as well as combining this information into the social networking scheme that has been found around the Internet.
So, we've gone from basic text chat rooms to individual user lists with the ability to draw, play games, voice and video chat, transfer files, and a slew of other items - what features do you actually use, or want in an IM? What would you like to see in the future? Do you expect IM protocols to eventually coalesce into a single entity, inter-operable with one another? Would you rather maintain the differentiation between products?
I started thinking about this as I was recently added to the alpha of Astra myself, and have not really come to any personal conclusions about what I expect, or desire in future incarnations. If you all have any questions about it, feel free to post/pm me to find out.
Additionally, I think this is the longest OP I've ever written. And on such a random topic. Ah well.
Additionally, I think this is the longest OP I've ever written. And on such a random topic. Ah well.
Jragghen on
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MSN itself can be lifted from garbage to glory with the Mess patch courtesy of www.mess.be
its a great program once you strip all the BS out of it. I webchat, use whiteboard, transfer files, show everyone what I'm listening to at any moment, display pics, etc etc
I use MSN exclusivly now. As do most Australians I know. AIM seems to be more of an american flavour. I ended up using MSN simply because ICQ became a giant heap of bloatware and it took too long on the old pentium 200 to boot up.
Important features for a messenging service.
Low RAM use.
Fast
Able to transfer files easily
Look pretty.
Satans..... hints.....
Hardly any of my main contacts are on MSN, so I don't really use it.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
But I don't mind at all. Aside from shitty file transfer speeds, MSN is a really great program, imo. A few uneeded bloat options here and there... but the interface is great, way better than other IM programs, and it's really solid.
I'M A TWITTER SHITTER
Is there a reason why people dont use it? I just use that for my messenging.
The only things I don't like is the ads and the default smilies. I didn't think Microsoft would have to put ads in their IM. And the default smilies are crap. Is there a way to replace them?
STOP
anyone using MSN and who hasnt patched it with the mess patch needs to do that immediately. it improves the experience threefold
I can possibly upload my config file for instant goodness
I'll look into it then.
Same old site, great new look! Check out The Gameroom Blitz at:
http://www.lakupo.com/grblitz
I'd like to request that you do this. I like instant goodness.
it would take you 5 minutes from reading this point to finished state.
www.mess.be make sure you get latest messenger first. (8.1.0178) patch is on the left hand side.
load my config .ini file into the patch when you're given the option to do so, then just click through till the end. make sure to go into settings of msn itself and hide tabs under tabs and turn of windows live today as well in general.
http://download.yousendit.com/439BD06E48343FB8 the config file
You fucking tease.
I use Adium on my Mac and Trillian Pro on my Windows laptop. Trillian's fine, but it doesn't like dealing with webcams, and the direct-connect with AIM is spotty.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
Does the mess patch actually do Live! Messenger now as well, cause I remember looking at it a while ago and I couldn't see a configuration for the newest iteration of messenger.
Satans..... hints.....
Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
Steam Friend code: 45386507
Right here... That's what I use from work. (At home, I'm on a Mac...)
Miranda has a few issues, but it's small and uncluttered, handles my AIM, MSN and Jabber.
A while back (late 2004) I purchased a copy of Trillian Pro... Used it for a while until I realized that it was occassionally "losing" messages from MSN users, a serious issue as I was doing remote contract work at the time. My support request to the company was completely ignored, so I dumped that program.
Now, we all use a lot of MSN and Gtalk (because of gmail and Orkut).
Aim NEVER caught on here, noone have a crap to AOL.
I'm not sure what extra features I'd like in an IM program though. To tell the truth, most people I know don't use 'em. When we do, we just chat. No video. No audio. No.... whatever else people do. Main problem comes when people decide to send me pics and then no matter if I'm using official clients or not, things just go to shit. Jabber has some neat new features where you can basically create roaming bookmarks and stuff for your browser through it, and apparently Astra is adding some weird social stuff. Sound like neat things that I'll never use. I'm pretty happy with IM that does nothing but allow me to chat.
ICQ is big in Europe. MSN and AIM is big in the US.
edit: Ok it was mentioned but barely. It is the only useful IM out there. All others are pretty worthless.
ICQ is full of spam, that is why I stopped using it 10 years ago or whatever.
I used to use Trillian so I could connect to MSN and ICQ. However nobody I know uses ICQ anymore and I wasn't talking to any of my MSN contacts. The only people I still communicated with also used Google Talk. So it was an easy switch.
I like it because it's a pretty bare-bones interface, and it keeps my chat history online in my Gmail account. Having my chat history online is a great feature IMO.
I still remember my ICQ number; 8685789.
I was about to say, I don't think anyone uses ICQ that much anymore. I'm fairly sure MSN is the big one on Europe.
And we talk over Steam a lot, but most of it is:
"Find a server"
"No you find a server"
"Fuck it lets just get on IOA"
"Can't we play somewhere easier for a bit"
Ad nauseum.
MSN does that now too. It took them a long time to catch up with that feature, it was one of the best things about ICQ.
I think it's mostly because of how it markets itself - not as an instant messenger but as a VoIP service. I know people who boot it up when they want to make a phone call, then close it immediately afterwards - I myself am actually one of those.
What would be an interesting feature of future IM services is if they basically abstract out VoIP the same way that Skype has done with its pay version - assign a telephone number to each IM name (or allow for you to associate your current home/cell number with your name, givne that there's far too many IM names out there for each to get a number) so that you can "answer" telephone calls via voice chat.
But this is the sort of thing I'm talking about folks - what do you want to see, not as much what do you already use.
What else would I want? A stock ticker or weather updates? Sorry, but I'd rather not get those in the small window my IM client occupies.
If QNext wasn't so bulky I would probably choose it as my #1 choice for IM programs, but nobody is on it and sharing just isn't as fun if you have nobody to share with. I guess GAIM and Trillian can fight it out for my love and affection.
http://qnext.com/
Wii Code: 1040-1320-0724-3613 :!!:
And every canadian I have ever met uses MSN.
I quit updating AIM once they hit that "titanium" nonsense, or whatever they call it.
iChat as well, but it's a gussied up AIM.
EDIT
It's funny seeing all these posts about MSN exclusivity. For a while there, I honestly thought that AIM was the only widely used client. I only knew of wide spread use of MSN in the development community.