View Full Version : Instant Message Reunification Begins
Spooky
10-11-2005, 08:13 PM
In a Press Release (http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/051011/microsoft_yahoo.html?.v=4) filed at the unusual hour of 9:03 PM Eastern time Microsoft and Yahoo have announced a deal that will allow their two instant messaging programs to work together.The deal would allow users of both services to exchange messages, regardless of which system they were using....A Yahoo-Microsoft partnership would represent close to half of the instant messaging market and present an enormous challenge to market leader AOL, which holds just over half, said Robert Mahowald, an analyst with research firm IDC.Hopefuly this is a trend that will continue. I use Trillian and thanks to its brilliance have at the least been able to coordinate my chats with people on MSN, ICQ, AIM, and Yahoo in one window but true interoperability would be awesome. Once a standard is reached we could see that standard intergrated into games on a regular basis.
BrokenNut
10-11-2005, 08:31 PM
That would be nice, to be able to talk to people in WoW and over aim without having to alt-tab out of WoW... mmm *drool*
nonchalance
10-11-2005, 08:41 PM
A good start.
If GTalk and ICQ jump on board, then everybody I care about is on.
I don't talk to people on AIM, for some reason. Maybe because nobody in Australia uses it.
jacob.armitage
10-11-2005, 08:56 PM
or, everyone could just switch over to GTalk :P
This is just the first step in all IM services merging.
Spooky
10-11-2005, 09:20 PM
I agree Zeal, which is why I titled the post in the way that I did. To complete AOL will have to allow its dual-services AIM and ICQ to communicate with one another. Which consolidates the other 50+% of the market. From that point its only a matter of time before the two camps (AIM/ICQ and MSN/Yahoo) come to a resolution and allow interoperability.
fndarkone
10-11-2005, 09:40 PM
im fine with trillian/gaim solutions. them all getting together just means they are going to come up with some bloated ad-filled piece of crap software.
i like the fact that you start out minimal and you can install plugins to do whatever you want instead of relying on the companies to provide features.
feeble
10-11-2005, 09:41 PM
Who chats anyways these days?
Talking is the new messenger. Get onto Skype or google talk, and when you play games use Ventrilo or Teamspeak.
Mics are cheap as chips these days.
But even so, having msn-yahoo integrated would be kinda cool, even if everyone i know uses msn.
Heretic Machine
10-11-2005, 09:47 PM
I really think you guys are dreaming... I mean, I guess it would be nice, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
Jetrider
10-11-2005, 09:53 PM
To complete AOL will have to allow its dual-services AIM and ICQ to communicate with one another.
Doesn't AOL currently offer this feature to their users?
Leaving Hope
10-11-2005, 10:17 PM
The majority of the people I know in the United States use AOL Instant Messenger. Most of those I talk to in Australia and Japan use MSN Messenger.
I would be elated to have one IM program for all the formats. Sure, there's gAIM and Trillian and other programs that try to integrate all of them, but they are often missing out on the voice and video features.
The thing is, having a large userbase of IM users is powerful. With ads being placed into IM programs now, every user is a potential income source for AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo, et cetera. While it would be great for us to have one standard and one program for all our IM needs, it doesn't benefit these corporations in any way.
I am very impressed with Google Talk. It lacks the video features I like for my webcam, but I love how it's encrypted. It doesn't take much to snoop on someone's AIM conversation. And, Google Talk doesn't bombard me with ads or tabs like AOL or MSN. Google Talk is streamlined to do what it does, and it does it well.
I tried the new AOL Triton Beta a while back and was pretty disappointed. Instead of making it easier from a usability standpoint, they keep adding crap: more ads, bundled programs (Plaxo and AOL Explorer).
Klade
10-11-2005, 10:24 PM
I've been using GAIM for a while now and don't see myself changing any time soon. Everyone I know uses the AOL system for chatting anyway so I really don't need the multi-functions gaim offers me to begin with. I just prefer to use AIM without ads.
I have google messenger but no one I know uses it so its sort of a dead issue.
Oversized Landmass
10-11-2005, 10:51 PM
As soon as everyone is on the same IM system, they'll stop making them better.
nonchalance
10-11-2005, 10:54 PM
As soon as everyone is on the same IM system, they'll stop making them better.
And when was the last time you got a new version of a IM system and rejoiced at the new features?
Heretic Machine
10-11-2005, 11:07 PM
I would be elated to have one IM program for all the formats. Sure, there's gAIM and Trillian and other programs that try to integrate all of them, but they are often missing out on the voice and video features.
Trillian has both voice and video.
gsmith
10-11-2005, 11:09 PM
So, its a good thing if we reach a "standard" if a giant corporation (or group of corporations) owns that standard? Thats probably true, we should all use the same operating system owned by a giant corporation as well, no one would have any complaints about it I'm sure.
nonchalance
10-11-2005, 11:12 PM
So, its a good thing if we reach a "standard" if a giant corporation (or group of corporations) owns that standard?
Yeah. As long as there's a few corporations that own it, and those corps are in competition, and the standard is open.
It's more similar to DVD than it is to Windows, dude.
codswallop
10-11-2005, 11:16 PM
I don't talk to people on AIM, for some reason. Maybe because nobody in Australia uses it.
Everybody in my office uses AIM.
Also, AIM and ICQ are the same network. I would love everyone to adopt the Jabber network.
ÜberJumper
10-12-2005, 12:08 AM
The majority of incoming Instant Messages to me come from MSN Messenger accounts. My ICQ number (528307) is an early one, but I still get a few messages on it. My Yahoo and AOL messenger accounts are practically bare.
Thank god for Trillian so I don't have to run multiple clients.
pablious
10-12-2005, 12:35 AM
I've been wanting to get one of these for a while, just havn't gotten around to it. For people who have used both, which would you say is better, trillian or gaim?
Adewade
10-12-2005, 01:20 AM
It's definitely a regional thing. Pretty much everyone I've met uses MSN, personally (Southwest Canada).
raVen
10-12-2005, 04:06 AM
MSN in New Zealand too, as far as I know...
Royal Fool
10-12-2005, 06:25 AM
I use MSN for everything, I find it tons better than AIM.
And Google went the Jabber route trying to tout the openness of it, but other previously existing Jabber servers can not interact with Google's, you need to sign up with Google and can only use their infrastructure. This goes against one of the core ideas of Jabber. It's equal to the idea of Gmail email addresses only being able to send and receive email from other Gmail accounts. If Google strives to take away interoperability, I don't think anyone will strive towards it.
People can say switch to GTalk all they want, Google dropped the ball horribly, imho, and did no better. Personally I don't care about VOIP or any other voice communication aspect.
ÜberJumper
10-12-2005, 07:15 AM
pab:
In a recent review in Maximum PC, they indicated that Trillian was better.
Linux zealots swear by gaim, but I love Trillian. Even paid for the pro version.
Klade
10-12-2005, 10:05 AM
I used to use trillian many years ago, I switched to gaim and think its great. but then again I'm running both a windows box and linux box so I got some bias.
Xerxes
10-12-2005, 10:44 AM
I like trillian, hate voice chat on computers. Voice booming on computer speakers and headsets just ain't fun. People complain about chat on Live, i find PC far worse. And if you don't want to be bothered with Live idiots, build a decent buddylist and only play with buddies.
Magnanimous Gnome
10-12-2005, 06:32 PM
Wow, this all reminds me of the "good ol' days" when I chatted on nothing but ICQ. That was before AIM bought it of course, when the program was still small and hella fun.
Now all of my friends are on AIM and MSN Messenger, so I'm forced to stick to those two programs. Not really fond of either though - especially the evil MSN, which sticks its little fingers everywhere it seems.
ÜberJumper
10-13-2005, 06:45 AM
Klade:
The older version of trillian is pants compared to the newer version.
gsmith
10-13-2005, 09:19 PM
Yeah. As long as there's a few corporations that own it, and those corps are in competition, and the standard is open.
It's more similar to DVD than it is to Windows, dude.
The AIM client has ads, and the revenue from those ads goes to AOL When someone pops a DVD into a DVD player Corporation X is not getting paid for it, just the people who published the DVD. That is the difference, and its a big one. If AOL and Microsoft own the messenger client, put ads in it, and split the revinue, it is a wholly different scenario. Ads aside, have you read AOL's terms of use? They basically own every word that is transmitted over their service. I'm not granting anybody rights to anything when I play a DVD. The situation is very, very different.
nonchalance
10-13-2005, 09:36 PM
Why should there only be one client?
A standard protocol isn't that much of a problem. If they want me to use their client, they should make a better client, not kick everyone else off the service.
feeble
10-14-2005, 03:25 PM
im starting to really like Xfire
its perfect for pc gamers
codswallop
10-17-2005, 09:00 PM
For people who have used both, which would you say is better, trillian or gaim?
I personally found GAIM a lot clunkier than Trillian, which seemed a lot more customisable (at least in Windows).
However, I used Miranda which fits my needs better anyway.
http://www.miranda-im.org
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