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AOL Takes Good AIM

America Online's Instant Messenger 2.0 holds its own against ICQ.

By Lisa Moskowitz, PCWorld   

Since America Online bought ICQ back in June 1998, it might seem redundant for the company to maintain two Web-based instant messaging services: AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ. Both offer free chat and extensive personalization options. It would seem natural for AIM and ICQ users to overlap, right? But according to AOL, the overlap is only 6 percent.

That's not for lack of popularity. The two services claim 65 million members: 35 million for AIM and 30 million for ICQ. Loyal followers alone cannot possibly account for the dueling popularity of these two instant messaging services. Rather, their appeal lies in their unique features and functions.

Soup-to-Nuts, or Simple?

If you're looking for a community experience, go to the ICQ Web site. ICQ has evolved into a community portal of sorts, complete with a calendar, 16 chat categories, and a recently announced e-mail service called ICQMail.

AOL's latest version of AIM, 2.0, is more of a straight instant messaging service than a community-building tool. The new features in this version include invitations for one-on-one or multiparty chat, personalized news that's accessible from the AIM window, and a personal profile that helps other AIM users to find you.

AIM 2.01 for Windows, now in beta, is a minor upgrade that improves file transfers and receipts and adds AIM status icons to the Windows system tray.

Getting Instant Gratification

AIM comes bundled with Netscape Navigator or can be downloaded separately from AOL.com; the file is 8MB in size and needs 5MB of disk space to run. When you install AIM 2.0, you'll be asked to provide a screen name and e-mail address. If you belong to AOL, your AOL screen name will be used.

Once installed, AIM floats on your PC desktop or can be minimized to the taskbar. The relatively unobtrusive window offers links to personalized news, the Web, and search functions, and a preview directory of chat topics. To let others know you're online, you can send invitations to sign up for AIM, or to chat if they're already registered. You can find other AIM users if you know their e-mail address, screen name, or name and street address--provided they have filled out a profile.

AIM 2.0 is a vast improvement over the previous version, offering file transfers and receipts and additional privacy measures.

An audio notification lets you know when a message is waiting. You can change or turn off the notification sound and opt to see an Accept Message dialog box for messages sent by users not listed in your buddy list. If this becomes annoying, you can choose only to receive messages from those on your buddy list rather than all AIM members. Privacy has not been sacrificed in the name of accessibility.

Friendly File Transfers

Sending a file to a buddy is straightforward: Just choose Send File from the People menu in the AIM window. Receiving a file as simple as downloading it.

The Get File command is tricky, however. If you've been okayed by another user, you can fetch a file directly from their computer. AIM warns about viruses and requires that you specify the directory that others can access, but letting other people onto your hard drive makes a security breach more likely. The advantage is that you can give your buddies access to all types of files, including dense image and audio files.

Still standard in version 2.0 are the colorful fonts, inserted links, and the ability to block certain senders and warn misbehaving ones. The Preferences dialog box is more robust than in previous versions, but it's still easy to find your way around and make your choices--which is not something you can say for ICQ.

As AIM continues to develop a community of its own, look for the overlap with ICQ users to grow.