Instant Messaging Software

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bob Newman
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Bob Newman

Is there any freeware instant messaging software compatable with AOL &
others?

Thanks... Bob
 
Thanks for your help. It will be used primarily with AOL. Does anyone have
any AOL experiences they can share?

Thanks in advance... Bob
 
Is there any freeware instant messaging software compatable with AOL &
others?

Thanks... Bob
Click to expand...

I've used both Trillian and Miranda, and Trillian works better for the AOL
protocol.

Without getting too technical, the Miranda AIM protocol plug-in uses TOC
rather than the OSCAR login actually used by the AOL AIM client; Trillian
does. What this means is that you do not get as much functionality with
Miranda as you do Trillian when connecting to the AIM network.

So, for those touting Miranda in this case, either they don't care or they
don't know.

As far as any advantage about Miranda being small & stable, so is Trillian,
especially when compared to Miranda after downloading all the plug-ins
required to get the same functionality Trillian has right out of the box.

Normally, I'm for the type of plug-in architecture that Miranda offers, but
I never found it to be to Miranda's advantage as it just made it a pain to
hunt through and test the plug-ins, most of which are redundant or
worthless or could be useful but were poorly designed (seems most of the
plug-ins were designed by kiddies who almost knew what they were doing).
And how much effort do you really want to put into setting up a messenger
client anyway...unless you're 13 years old?
 
I've used both Trillian and Miranda, and Trillian works better for the AOL
protocol.

Without getting too technical, the Miranda AIM protocol plug-in uses TOC
rather than the OSCAR login actually used by the AOL AIM client; Trillian
does.
Click to expand...

Clarification:

Trillian does [use the OSCAR protocol].
What this means is that you do not get as much functionality with
Miranda as you do Trillian when connecting to the AIM network.
Click to expand...
<snip>
 
Art said:
I've used both Trillian and Miranda, and Trillian works better for
the AOL protocol.

Without getting too technical, the Miranda AIM protocol plug-in uses
TOC rather than the OSCAR login actually used by the AOL AIM client;
Trillian does. What this means is that you do not get as much
functionality with Miranda as you do Trillian when connecting to the
AIM network.

So, for those touting Miranda in this case, either they don't care or
they don't know.

As far as any advantage about Miranda being small & stable, so is
Trillian, especially when compared to Miranda after downloading all
the plug-ins required to get the same functionality Trillian has
right out of the box.

Normally, I'm for the type of plug-in architecture that Miranda
offers, but I never found it to be to Miranda's advantage as it just
made it a pain to hunt through and test the plug-ins, most of which
are redundant or worthless or could be useful but were poorly
designed (seems most of the plug-ins were designed by kiddies who
almost knew what they were doing). And how much effort do you really
want to put into setting up a messenger client anyway...unless you're
13 years old?
Click to expand...

I'm almost three times that age, it took me about 20 minutes to set Miranda
up for my needs (must be the age that slowed me down), my Miranda folder is
still about 30% smaller than the Trillian setup-file and (must be the age
again) in my last post I forgot to mention the low, very low resources it
needs. And you're correct, I don't care about AOL.
 
I downloaded Miranda & it looks pretty straight forward. One thing I'm not
sure of though. Can it be active for all the services simultaneuosly or
only one at a time? ie, if I'm chating with someone on AOL, will I know is
someone with Yahoo or MSN instant messaging is trying to reach me?

Thanks... Bob
 
Bob said:
I downloaded Miranda & it looks pretty straight forward. One thing
I'm not sure of though. Can it be active for all the services
simultaneuosly or only one at a time? ie, if I'm chating with
someone on AOL, will I know is someone with Yahoo or MSN instant
messaging is trying to reach me?

Thanks... Bob
Click to expand...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, and you correct me if I'm misunderstanding
you, but I don't think that's possible with any messenger program, unless
you have accounts for the other protocols set up as well, in your example an
account for Yahoo and an account for MSN. If you have those, the answer to
your question is: yes.
 
Is there any freeware instant messaging software compatable with
AOL & others?

Thanks... Bob
Click to expand...

Ignoring the pissing match that's going on, there are a number of
software apps compatible with the AIM network. What, exactly, do you
plan to do? If you want to send and receive files or share images
across AIM, then Miranda is out of the question, because it doesn't
support that. Personally, between Gaim and Trillian, I prefer Gaim.

If you want to not only chat and transfer files, but do voice chat,
play games, etc, with your friend, then you'll need the official AIM
client which (as far as I know) is the only client which supports all
the special features of AIM.

However, if all you plan on doing is chatting with your friend, then
I'd recommendn Miranda. It's very compact, very customizable, and
(IMO) very well done.

Gaim: http://gaim.sf.net
Miranda: http://www.miranda-im.org/
AIM: http://www.aim.com
Trillian: http://www.trillian.cc
 
dkg_ctc said:
Ignoring the pissing match that's going on, there are a number of
software apps compatible with the AIM network. What, exactly, do you
plan to do? If you want to send and receive files or share images
across AIM, then Miranda is out of the question, because it doesn't
support that. Personally, between Gaim and Trillian, I prefer Gaim.

If you want to not only chat and transfer files, but do voice chat,
play games, etc, with your friend, then you'll need the official AIM
client which (as far as I know) is the only client which supports all
the special features of AIM.

However, if all you plan on doing is chatting with your friend, then
I'd recommendn Miranda. It's very compact, very customizable, and
(IMO) very well done.

Gaim: http://gaim.sf.net
Miranda: http://www.miranda-im.org/
AIM: http://www.aim.com
Trillian: http://www.trillian.cc
Click to expand...
One other program which I forgot to mention, but is compact AND
supports file transfers across AIM, is Easy Message. It's not
terribly feature-packed, but if all you need to do is chat and share
files, then it might be worth looking into as well.
Click to expand...

Easy Message: http://www.easymessage.net/

No pissing contest here, just trying to help Bob out and defending the
uncalled-for attack on Miranda :) But like I mentioned before, I have no
experience with AOL. I tried easy message with MSN, but it crashed a number
of times. But it's realy small and simple, so it could be the thing for Bob.
 
Ignoring the pissing match that's going on
Click to expand...

Gaim: http://gaim.sf.net
Miranda: http://www.miranda-im.org/
AIM: http://www.aim.com
Trillian: http://www.trillian.cc
Click to expand...

No pissing match (nor was it an "uncalled for attack"... what a joke) if
you are referring in part or in whole to me; I simply pointed out that
Trillian handles the AIM protocol as intended using the same protocol as
the original AIM client. Miranda is more of a "hack" when it comes to its
AIM implementation. There is no disputing that, regardless of the type of
match anyone cares to get into.

Since the OP seemed to be most interested in AIM, this seemed important.

My other point was valid as well...Trillian is one download; Miranda can
be, but if you want some of the other potentially more sophisticated
features, you have to sift through a bunch of downloads, installing and
testing to see exactly what they do or don't do. A lot of the plug-ins
don't work as advertised, some work as advertised but are poorly done, a
lot duplicate what others do (but descriptions don't necessarily bear this
out), etc., etc.

If someone has an emotional stake in Miranda, I can see how the points seem
to be "pissy". Otherwise, they should be taken as an accurate description
of the software. If these things matter or matter not to anyone, fine; but
they are not an attack nor are they invalid.

I still have Miranda installed, so I'm not totally opposed to it. I just
think it tended to be more trouble than it was worth to get "customized" to
the extent that other clients are right out of the box. And it has yet to
correct its use of TOC versus OSCAR for the AIM client.
 
I'm almost three times that age, it took me about 20 minutes to set Miranda
up for my needs (must be the age that slowed me down), my Miranda folder is
still about 30% smaller than the Trillian setup-file and (must be the age
again) in my last post I forgot to mention the low, very low resources it
needs. And you're correct, I don't care about AOL.
Click to expand...

"For your needs" is the key. If you have more advanced needs and you can
sift / read through the plug-ins descriptions, download and test them in 20
minutes, and still have your download folder be 30% smaller than Trillian's
folder, you would be less than truthful.
And you're correct, I don't care about AOL.
Click to expand...

Well, I wasn't trying to answer to what you care about. It seemed to me I
was justified in answering what I felt the OP cared about. He seemed to
care about AOL's AIM service.

Anyway, I was pointing out my experience with instant messaging software; I
wasn't criticizing your mother.

Truce... if actually needed?
 
Art said:
"For your needs" is the key. If you have more advanced needs and you
can sift / read through the plug-ins descriptions, download and test
them in 20 minutes, and still have your download folder be 30%
smaller than Trillian's folder, you would be less than truthful.


Well, I wasn't trying to answer to what you care about. It seemed to
me I was justified in answering what I felt the OP cared about. He
seemed to care about AOL's AIM service.

Anyway, I was pointing out my experience with instant messaging
software; I wasn't criticizing your mother.

Truce... if actually needed?
Click to expand...

You nor me called this a pissing contest, somebody else did. I have
absolutely no problems whatsoever with you or your opinions, but next time
please do not refer to my or anyone elses mother, positive or negative, in
my opinion this is a big no-no. But no truce needed where there are no
problems :)
And IMHO anyone who has an emotional stake in any program should be
hospitalized. Like you said, choose what you need.
 
You nor me called this a pissing contest, somebody else did. I have
absolutely no problems whatsoever with you or your opinions, but next time
please do not refer to my or anyone elses mother, positive or negative, in
my opinion this is a big no-no.
Click to expand...

Okay. I won't even say the "M" word. I just hope anyone following this
thread takes a look above to understand that I made no personal, derogatory
comments whatsoever, nor would I. :)
But no truce needed where there are no
problems :)
Great.

And IMHO anyone who has an emotional stake in any program should be
hospitalized. Like you said, choose what you need.
Click to expand...

It happens (the emotional stake, that is).
 
Is there any freeware instant messaging software compatable with AOL &
others?

Thanks... Bob
Click to expand...

Hi, new to all this, so excuse my naivity! What does Miranda do that
Messenger doesn't? Why would I want to switch to Miranda? Both are
free, where do they differ?
Thanks
 
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