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The Ins and Outs of AIM

How to use AOL Instant Messenger more efficiently and safely--and have more fun with it, too.

By Gregg Keiser, PCWorld   

AOL Instant Messenger, also known as AIM, is the Net's second most popular instant messaging client. Only AOL's other IM program, ICQ, has more users. But the universe of folks you can reach via AIM is actually larger than ICQ's, since AIM can put you in touch not only with AIM users, but with people logged on to AOL. Is your Aunt Mabel always tying up her phone line connecting to AOL to hit the quilting chat rooms? AIM lets you get her attention in real time. And AIM's usefulness is likely to grow as time progresses, now that AOL has vowed to open its system to other IM clients, allowing for messages to travel back and forth between various IM networks.

Like ICQ (our favorite instant messenger), AIM suffers in spots from an oddball interface and buried options. So we've come up with 21 tips to put you firmly in control. First up, in the privacy and security section, we cover the most important instant messaging chores: fending off kooks and safeguarding your PC. Then we tell you how to tweak the interface and reveal AIM's ambitious side by showing you some of its fancier tricks. Finally, we talk about Talk, AIM's new person-to-person voice chat feature.

Some of our tips require AIM version 4.0 or later. If you're running an earlier version, we can hook you up with the latest edition:

Download AIM 4.0 from FileWorld

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