You can hear Laura Lorek on Newsradio 610 every Thursday at 8:21 a.m., 11:21 a.m. It boasts 5 million users for its product called PowWow.

Lastly, another instant message outfit is Tribal Voice. To get around the incompatibility issues, Microsoft has made its software compatible with AOL's IM so anyone can use Microsoft's software to contact both MSN Messenger and AIM users.īoth companies are taking this seemingly trivial free software very seriously since it reaches such a large audience. The e-mail account is free and the installation process provides a quick link to a Web-based sign up. To use it, Microsoft requires a Hotmail e-mail account. Microsoft also entered the instant messaging marketplace in July, offering MSN Messenger available at. When it comes to instant messaging, AOL is the industry leader with 40 million people using its AIM product and another 38 million users on ICQ. So each company has developed its own proprietary software that is not compatible with the others. The instant messaging software programs do not work with each other because no standard has been established. ICQ, which stands for I Seek You, is available at ICQ also offers the ability to send your contacts computer files, Web page addresses, voice messages, greeting cards and phone call requests. To get the software go to AOL also bought ICQ, an even more potent instant messaging program, from Mirabiles Ltd., the Israeli company that created it. It is the most popular instant messaging application. Even users of the two different AOL offerings - Instant Messenger and ICQ - cannot exchange messages.ĪOL offers AOL Instant Messenger, which is available to anyone on the Web. That means a registered user of Yahoo! pager, for example, cannot send an instant message to a registered user of America Online's Instant Messenger and vice versa. One of the biggest problems with instant messaging is the lack of common standards and protocols. These exchanges can go on for some time creating an interaction that resembles a real-time conversation. Your friend can then choose to send an instant reply. When your friend's PC receives the message, it pops up on the computer screen. Here's how instant messaging works: You write a message, then click send to transmit it across the Internet.

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