New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

IM Guides

post #1 of 20
Thread Starter 
hi all,

i have decided to create this guide to help people choose

1. the right IM
2. the right IM program from them



ICQ Messenger

Review:

personally i like this messenger ICQ5 LITE is the official program for ICQ can be totally customized to suit moods and desktops. ICQ is used by a lot of people instead of using text address you use numbers e.g. 311779265 this is like a phone number, to some people this can be hard to forget but, to others it may be easier. problems with ICQ include the vast amounts of SPAM you recieve through IM's from people. can be changed by altering settings but, not best for novice computer users. Another great feature has to be the offine messages, friends can leave a message if you are not online and when you log in the message will be displayed. microphone has a click-to-talk function which can become annoying every now and then.

OS: ALL [non-official IM client needed for LINUX computers]

Yahoo Messenger

Review:

again this is a great program too, easier than ICQ but has the same issues with spam for people who are new to the messenger. depending on the version you are using depends if you have a chat room or not. chat rooms ARE available on the US version and the UK version chat room availability is UNAVAILABLE. with yahoo messenger you have preset audio sounds which can be pretty fun and amusing to use between friends. with the IMenviroments available [In Official Yahoo Messenger Client Only] you can do activities as you and your friend talk. yahoo messenger also has a free PC-PC phone call system which is basically as it says, it has a PC-Phone too, but this is not a free service. a great feature about Yahoo is the Super Webcam Mode, which, is almost realtime. from personal experience i have been speaking to friends in USA and its like realtime. another great feature has to be the offine messages, friends can leave a message if you are not online and when you log in the message will be displayed.

OS: ALL [Other clients are available for Linux OS]

MSN Messenger
Review:

this has to be the most popular and the most well known messenger on the internet. there are 3 types of official clients [Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger and Windows Live Messenger] to choose from. you can have custom backgrounds and emoticons which can be shared with your friends and family available online. with this messenger dial-up users who have emoticons will take some time for you to recieve them [if using MSN or Windows Live Messengers] the webcam features are very simple no super webcam mode like in yahoo but, never the less still ok. microphone features are good too, just open mic instead of having to click or press a key.

OS: ALL [Other Clients Available For Linux]

Skype Messenger

this is a great program again too, has basically all the same features of yahoo, but without the hassle of being spammed. this IM isnt used as much as yahoo, but recently with the VOIP take off, skype has earn respect very quickly, with its cheap rates on PC-Phone availablility a lot of users use it because of this.

OS: All

AOL instant messenger

Review:

personally i do not like this messenger, its so basic and annoying, anything from AOL can't be too good. the features are really basic and nothing is their to make it stand out from the crowd, or for that matter get it in the crowd, AIM is like the lonely kid in the playground at school. this IM was good back in the day, but it has seen better days. only idea for AOL internet users.

OS: ALL [other clients available for Linux]

Google Talk
this messenger is a lot like IRC and AIM its very simple and effective... can do what other messengers can do like file sharing webcam, but this is simple effective and i love it, unfortunately not many people use it as the Market is more aimed towards MSN and Yahoo services... non the less sexy IM program.

-=Other Clients=-

Linux:

Gaim
Wine [advanced but use the official clients]

Windows:

Trillian Basic [Highly Reconmended]
Trillian Pro
Global IM
Instan-T
TipicIM

Mac:

Trillian Basic [Highly Reconmended]
Trillian Pro

-=Multiple=-

if you want to do multiple messengers at the same time using trillian Pro you can load up all these IM's plus IRC chat for your favourite server. please see www.trillian.cc for more information.

If using linux, Gaim is ideal for you, it doesn't support Skype but if you are using Mandriva Or Mandrake that will not be a problem
Chopstick!
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 SLCR 3.2Ghz Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R iG33 Express Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX 1GB PCI-E GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
500+500+1000+160+250+160 Samsung SATA DVDRW Lightscribe Windows XP SP2 Acoustic Solutions 32" HDTV 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 Corsair TW750W Coolermaster Centurion 5 [Black/Silver] Razer Diamondback 3G Blue Frost 
Mouse Pad
Everglide Titan 
  hide details  
Reply
Chopstick!
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 SLCR 3.2Ghz Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R iG33 Express Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX 1GB PCI-E GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
500+500+1000+160+250+160 Samsung SATA DVDRW Lightscribe Windows XP SP2 Acoustic Solutions 32" HDTV 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 Corsair TW750W Coolermaster Centurion 5 [Black/Silver] Razer Diamondback 3G Blue Frost 
Mouse Pad
Everglide Titan 
  hide details  
Reply
post #2 of 20
Have we forgotten about google talk?

http://talk.google.com
Elite
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
IBM PPC Triple core @ 3.2GHz Custom ATi Xenos 10MB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
120GB DVD ROM XBox 360 Dashboard Dell 24" 2405FPW 
PowerCase
Big Honkin One Black 
  hide details  
Reply
Elite
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
IBM PPC Triple core @ 3.2GHz Custom ATi Xenos 10MB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
120GB DVD ROM XBox 360 Dashboard Dell 24" 2405FPW 
PowerCase
Big Honkin One Black 
  hide details  
Reply
post #3 of 20
Thread Starter 
yes purposly as for IRC chat too, googletalk is a beta, and IRC chat could go on forever. i just named some of the most useful and the most common if you like i can add google talk...
Chopstick!
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 SLCR 3.2Ghz Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R iG33 Express Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX 1GB PCI-E GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
500+500+1000+160+250+160 Samsung SATA DVDRW Lightscribe Windows XP SP2 Acoustic Solutions 32" HDTV 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 Corsair TW750W Coolermaster Centurion 5 [Black/Silver] Razer Diamondback 3G Blue Frost 
Mouse Pad
Everglide Titan 
  hide details  
Reply
Chopstick!
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Intel Core2Quad Q6600 SLCR 3.2Ghz Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R iG33 Express Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX 1GB PCI-E GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Black Dragon 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
500+500+1000+160+250+160 Samsung SATA DVDRW Lightscribe Windows XP SP2 Acoustic Solutions 32" HDTV 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 Corsair TW750W Coolermaster Centurion 5 [Black/Silver] Razer Diamondback 3G Blue Frost 
Mouse Pad
Everglide Titan 
  hide details  
Reply
post #4 of 20
kopete in linux (included in some KDE desktops)
http://kopete.kde.org/
smilodon-beast
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
C2D e8400 c0 - 4.0ghz ASUS P5N-E SLI 8500 GT - dead. need new card 6gigs DDR2 800 (g-skill) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
250 gig WDC Combo Drive Serv'08 Workstation 17 inch 
PowerCase
Corsair HX520W Raidmax Smilodon 
  hide details  
Reply
smilodon-beast
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
C2D e8400 c0 - 4.0ghz ASUS P5N-E SLI 8500 GT - dead. need new card 6gigs DDR2 800 (g-skill) 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
250 gig WDC Combo Drive Serv'08 Workstation 17 inch 
PowerCase
Corsair HX520W Raidmax Smilodon 
  hide details  
Reply
post #5 of 20
I would also like to ad Pidgin IM Client.

Must like Trillian where you can add multiple IM resources supporting:
  • AIM
  • Bonjour
  • Gadu-Gadu
  • Google Talk
  • Groupwise
  • ICQ
  • IRC
  • MSN
  • QQ
  • SILC
  • SIMPLE
  • Sametime
  • XMPP
  • Yahoo!
  • Zephyr
It used be the old GAIM but due to some lawsuits with AoL they dropped the name and now branded a new product Pidgin.
Refreshed Duo
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
E8500 E0@4.25Ghz (500x8.5) Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P EVGA GTX285 (720/1674/2772) 2x2gb G.SKILL PC8500 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
3xWD 250GB RAID0 Sony DVD/CDR/RW Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ACER 24" P241WAID LCD 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 (Original) OCZ GameXStream 700w SLI ThermalTake Armor Black Logitech G5 
Mouse Pad
Razor XACT 
  hide details  
Reply
Refreshed Duo
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
E8500 E0@4.25Ghz (500x8.5) Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P EVGA GTX285 (720/1674/2772) 2x2gb G.SKILL PC8500 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
3xWD 250GB RAID0 Sony DVD/CDR/RW Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ACER 24" P241WAID LCD 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G15 (Original) OCZ GameXStream 700w SLI ThermalTake Armor Black Logitech G5 
Mouse Pad
Razor XACT 
  hide details  
Reply
post #6 of 20
For those of you who loved some of the olde IM programds you can still download them and with the help fo deadaim you can get rid of the adds that they added.

This site has all versions OF AIM and many other Instant messanger software titles
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q6600 B3 @ 3.6ghz ASUS MAXIMUS SE XFX HD5770 Gskill 2x2gb 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
2x seagate 500gb in raid 0 + wd geen 1.5terrabyte DVD-RW win 7 + xp samsung 712n w HP w2007 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
IBM type m PC Power + Cooling Silencer 610 CM storm G5 
Mouse Pad
the desk 
  hide details  
Reply
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Q6600 B3 @ 3.6ghz ASUS MAXIMUS SE XFX HD5770 Gskill 2x2gb 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
2x seagate 500gb in raid 0 + wd geen 1.5terrabyte DVD-RW win 7 + xp samsung 712n w HP w2007 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
IBM type m PC Power + Cooling Silencer 610 CM storm G5 
Mouse Pad
the desk 
  hide details  
Reply
post #7 of 20
There is a website that will allow you to log into your IMs without the software. This is great when you are traveling or are at school!

wwwe.meebo.com

My System
(18 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7 3930k ASUS P9X79 Deluxe ASUS 7970 DC2T 32Gb G.Skill Sniper 1866 Cas10 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
OS: Mushkin Cronos DX SSD Intel X25-M SSD Seagate HHD Samsung F3 
Optical DriveCoolingOSMonitor
LG BluRay x12 Noctua NH-D14 Windows 8 Pro 64 ASUS VW226H 26" x3 Eyefinity 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G19 Seasonic 1250w 80+ Gold Silverstone Fortress FT02 Logitech G9X 
Audio
ASUS Xonar DX 
  hide details  
Reply
My System
(18 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i7 3930k ASUS P9X79 Deluxe ASUS 7970 DC2T 32Gb G.Skill Sniper 1866 Cas10 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
OS: Mushkin Cronos DX SSD Intel X25-M SSD Seagate HHD Samsung F3 
Optical DriveCoolingOSMonitor
LG BluRay x12 Noctua NH-D14 Windows 8 Pro 64 ASUS VW226H 26" x3 Eyefinity 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
Logitech G19 Seasonic 1250w 80+ Gold Silverstone Fortress FT02 Logitech G9X 
Audio
ASUS Xonar DX 
  hide details  
Reply
post #8 of 20
Quote:
Originally Posted by ericeod View Post
There is a website that will allow you to log into your IMs without the software. This is great when you are traveling or are at school!

wwwe.meebo.com

Sadly does not work at my school Every time I change it to run threw a different port it jumps to another whenever I try to log on to any IM program...

(Or something like that...But the ports are all blocked to IM's and stuff like that)
Its "Still Alive"
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
QX6700 @3.10Ghz Gigabyte - EP45T-DS3R ATI Radeon HD 5830 Sapphire Patriot x2 1Gig DDR3 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
120Gig + 1TB LG Dvd-Multi RW/Cd+R Windows 7 64x Ultimate 20" Samsung Syncmaster 2253LW + 20" HP W2007 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
PS/2 Media Keyboard 600watt Black Case Logitech Optical Mouse - Black 
  hide details  
Reply
Its "Still Alive"
(13 items)
 
  
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
QX6700 @3.10Ghz Gigabyte - EP45T-DS3R ATI Radeon HD 5830 Sapphire Patriot x2 1Gig DDR3 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
120Gig + 1TB LG Dvd-Multi RW/Cd+R Windows 7 64x Ultimate 20" Samsung Syncmaster 2253LW + 20" HP W2007 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
PS/2 Media Keyboard 600watt Black Case Logitech Optical Mouse - Black 
  hide details  
Reply
post #9 of 20
Pidgin is quite possibly the best IM client there is. I've been using AIM 5 for about 4 years, and have permanently switched to Pidgin.

As far as protocols go, jabber(XMPP - generic name) is really amazing. It's the structural equivalent of email, instead of say, a website (It's decentralized). You can get an IM account (like I have) such as "lukehasnoname@jabber.org" and anyone else with an XMPP account (lukehasnoname@gmail.com) can send me an IM on an XMPP client. If I'm not online, it holds the messages until I get back on. No more "Is AIM going to tank?"

gmail accounts have XMPP capabilities. jabber.org is another place where you can get an XMPP account. Pidgin supports many protocols, such as AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, XMPP, and some others.
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Athlon II 630 Asus 760G MSI 4850 Gskill 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Hitachi Asus DVD burner Windows 7 / Ubuntu Asus 22" 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
HP Corsair 450W In-Win BUC IBM 
Mouse Pad
Desk 
  hide details  
Reply
    
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
Athlon II 630 Asus 760G MSI 4850 Gskill 4GB 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSMonitor
Hitachi Asus DVD burner Windows 7 / Ubuntu Asus 22" 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
HP Corsair 450W In-Win BUC IBM 
Mouse Pad
Desk 
  hide details  
Reply
post #10 of 20
Yahoo! and Xfire aren't mentioned? Steam messenger, but that doesn't count persay.

Yahoo! has the most features, you can do so many things with your contacts. Helpful things. Draw together, watch videos together, listen to music, share photos, it can translate messages, browse the web together, play games (that don't suck), webcam, voice, voicemail, phone calls too, but those were sort of mandatory. Best looking messenger, with many different looks and colors.
Lee XT
(19 items)
 
Leon
(11 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD FX-6300 Asus M5A97 SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7850 AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ 
RAMRAMRAMHard Drive
AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ OCZ Revodrive 3 120GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Xigmatec Rifle 120mm Windows 8 Pro MCE Acer H213H 21.5" 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Acer H213H 21.5" Razer Arctossa Ultra 600W Limited Edition NZXT Black Steel 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Roccat Kone[+] Prometric Testing Center Renewal Gift Mouse Pad Realtek HD Audio 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Phenom II X4 N970 2.2GHZ Radeon HD 6650m 8GB DDR3 1066MHZ Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 256GB 
Optical DriveOSMonitorPower
DVD Super Multi Windows 8 Pro Acer 15.6" 1366x768 Hipro 19v 4.74a 
MouseAudioOther
Razer Orochi Realtek HD Audio Intel Centrino 6230 Wireless-N + Bluetooth 3.0HS 
  hide details  
Reply
Lee XT
(19 items)
 
Leon
(11 items)
 
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AMD FX-6300 Asus M5A97 SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7850 AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ 
RAMRAMRAMHard Drive
AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ AMD 4GB DDR3 1333MHZ OCZ Revodrive 3 120GB 
Hard DriveCoolingOSMonitor
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Xigmatec Rifle 120mm Windows 8 Pro MCE Acer H213H 21.5" 
MonitorKeyboardPowerCase
Acer H213H 21.5" Razer Arctossa Ultra 600W Limited Edition NZXT Black Steel 
MouseMouse PadAudio
Roccat Kone[+] Prometric Testing Center Renewal Gift Mouse Pad Realtek HD Audio 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Phenom II X4 N970 2.2GHZ Radeon HD 6650m 8GB DDR3 1066MHZ Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 256GB 
Optical DriveOSMonitorPower
DVD Super Multi Windows 8 Pro Acer 15.6" 1366x768 Hipro 19v 4.74a 
MouseAudioOther
Razer Orochi Realtek HD Audio Intel Centrino 6230 Wireless-N + Bluetooth 3.0HS 
  hide details  
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Other Software