Instant messaging does for the typing what the telephone did for talking. You type in messages to your friends and, if they're also online, they'll respond within seconds. Although chat rooms allowing you to communicate in real time have existed since the 70s, they always had the disadvantage that you couldn't screen who entered a room. Instant messaging allows you to screen people, and only talk to those you want to.
With the latest versions of instant messaging programs, you can do far more than chat. For a start you can post pictures, files and web site addresses into your conversation. It's a very popular way of meeting people if you're trying to organise a group of people to play an online game. Finally, with users who support it, you can converse via voice too, effectively turning your PC into a phone. As internet phone calls are either free or charged at a local rate, this makes instant messaging a perfect way to keep in contact with friends who live abroad.
In the latest version, you'll find communication tools; such as sending SMS messages and conducting voice and video chats, and fun activities like online games...
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Trillian is most notable for letting you connect to friends on other instant messengers, including AIM, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo, provided you have accounts with these services.
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Adopting a no-frills approach, Google Talk is as basic as instant messengers come. It seamlessly combines text and voice messaging, talk to your friends by typing or microphone.
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AOL Instant Messenger (or AIM for short) was originally developed to let AOL's members chat among themselves, but is also available for anyone to download.
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Claire Woffenden, Editor
