IM Wars

Oh the humanity! Should I use AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or any of a number of other instant messaging clients? I know that many of you are plagued by thoughts and sleepless nights worrying about this topic. So let me help you help me help you...

Which Instant Messaging (IM) Client Should I Use?

All of the IM clients listed above support the following most commonly used features: exchange text messages with one or more people, voice chat, webcam, and file transfers.

AOL Instant Messenger is the most basic of the three. The most notable downside is that you cannot modify your Screen Name (Display Name). Additionally, AIM does not have the ability to archive messages.

MSN Messenger has the most flexibility for changing your Display Name.

Yahoo! Messenger integrates LAUNCHcast Radio so you can listen to streaming audio from the IM client--your contacts can also see what songs you are listening to. Yahoo! Messenger also integrates with your Yahoo! Address Book--the only downside I see to the Address Book integration is that you need to keep contact information up-to-date whereas MSN Messenger updates information automatically when the contact updates his/her information.

Both MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger archive messages.

What About Multi-Protocol Instant Messaging Clients?

One of the problems with using different IM clients is that if you have some co-workers, family, and friends using one client and others a different client, you need both client applications installed and running to be able to communicate with both parties. Multi-protocol instant messaging clients allow users to utilize just one client application to communicate who might be using different protocols. The most popular of these applications are Trillian, Gaim, and Miranda. All of these aforementioned clients support AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and IRC.

What If I Cannot Install Software On My Computer?

AIM, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger are all full-featured IM clients that you install on your own computer or on ones you have permission to install on. The following IM services let you send instant messages directly from a Web browser and are suitable in certain cases when companies block IM traffic or lock down software installations:

AOL - AIM Express
Microsoft - MSN Web Messenger
Yahoo! - Yahoo! Web Messenger

These allow the use of basic instant messaging features on a Web browser without installing any additional software.

What About Instant Messaging Security?

IMs are exchanged over the Internet in cleartext form. IM security products encrypt these messages to prevent others from eavesdropping onto your IMs.

Secway has a product called SimpLite that has support for the more popular instant messaging protocols, including AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! SimpLite is a transparent application that encrypts messages before they leave your computer to the Internet.

Zone Labs has a product called IMSecure that appears to do the same thing although I have never used it.

Summary

As for me, I currently use MSN Messenger coupled with SimpLite for MSN. I reluctantly use AIM. I like the fact that I can change my Display Name in MSN Messenger, something I cannot do with AIM. While I do like some of the features of Yahoo! Messenger, namely the LAUNCHcast streaming audio feature, too many people are currently using AIM or MSN Messenger to justify installing yet another IM client.

I am currently evaluating Trillian Basic 3.0, one of the multi-protocol IM clients. So far I like it. However, one of the biggest problems I see with multi-protocol IM clients is the continual updates required to keep up with the updates to all of the IM clients they need to support. Also, multi-protocol IM clients will never offer the full set of features that any single IM client would provide.

As a side note, MSN Messenger is about to release a new version in the near future, which should add blogging support for MSN Spaces and stealth mode as well as other lesser features.