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Journalists are supposed to be unbiased. To heck with that: When it comes to instant messaging software, our clear favorite is ICQ, the program that sparked the whole instant messaging craze three years ago. ICQ, owned by America Online, has always been far more powerful than any of its competitors. But the program has also long suffered from a poor interface that hides a ton of useful features. There's a lot more to ICQ than instant messaging, but most users never stumble across advanced features like e-mail checking or appointment scheduling. Collected here are some of our favorite tricks to help you get the most out of these secret strengths and make your instant messaging easier and more fun.

As you peruse this article, you may notice three different sets of instructions for any particular tip. That's because ICQ's creators keep moving features into different menus and dialogs. We have the last three incarnations of ICQ--99a, 99b, and 2000--covered. If you'd like to upgrade to the most recent version, it's waiting for you on FileWorld, but as long as you have one of those three versions, good stuff awaits you on the following pages.

Download ICQ from FileWorld.