Why did people stop using it and migrate to msn messenger and then other services? As I remember it was pretty good. No one I know has logged into it for years now.

Load of reasons. AOL tried to prevent other clients, so there was little interaction with other systems. They also tried to claim copyright on the content of all messages. When they sold it off to the Russians, it became clear that all messages could be logged by the FSB.

I miss MSN :/ takes me back to my young teenage days. 

 

It were facebook, myspace etc that killed MSN / ICQ / Trillian etc. 

Oh yeah, I forgot AOL bought and sold Mirabilis.Do people still use AIM?

 

I have fond memories of ICQ from my dial-up days in the late 90s.

 

I remember setting up Jabber XMPP servers at Sun in 2001 too, running on same SPARC boxes our internal IRC network ran on. Them were the days.

Edited 18 July, 201411 yr by Nick P

If ICQ was the 'evil twin', AIM was/is the 'good twin'. AIM is still alive(ish) - it's a zombie. IIRC, there has a been a release this year. AIM has an open protocol, so there are many alternative clients. It was well liked by early iPhone adopters, but last year the installed share of IM apps was 0.25% and that doesn't mean it is used. Skype/Facetime/iChat seemed to be the killers of AIM.

Yeah, Skype is the one I don't really get. What is it that people like about it that I just don't seem to get? Why is it so prolific? The client has always felt a bit inelegant and bloated to me.

Oh yeah, I forgot AOL bought and sold Mirabilis.Do people still use AIM?

 

I have fond memories of ICQ from my dial-up days in the late 90s.

 

I remember setting up Jabber XMPP servers at Sun in 2001 too, running on same SPARC boxes our internal IRC network ran on. Them were the days.

 

Wow, Totally forgot about IRC!

 

Did you ever use Chatspace for IRC, UnrealIRCD or IRCxpro?

Yeah, Skype is the one I don't really get. What is it that people like about it that I just don't seem to get? Why is it so prolific? The client has always felt a bit inelegant and bloated to me.

Now Microsoft have killed MSN messenger, you're forced to use Skype.

Icq at one time became filled with scammers and bots, and general chat rooms became magnets for people looking for sex.

general chat rooms became magnets for people looking for sex.

 

Wow, Totally forgot about IRC!

 

Did you ever use Chatspace for IRC, UnrealIRCD or IRCxpro?

 

I used xchat on solaris / linux and mIRC on windows. We still use IRC at work. Well I don't so much - full of devops type people.

You want to watch out for exploits! Some clever people on IRC.

 

Best i saw were the CTCP IRC exploit - it let the attacker take complete control through mIRC.

Now Microsoft have killed MSN messenger, you're forced to use Skype.

 

 

You could always try QQ International.

 

I think Skype has better A/V capabilities than QQ, but QQ has better stuff for everything else.

You could always try QQ International.

 

I think Skype has better A/V capabilities than QQ, but QQ has better stuff for everything else.

 

I find no one I know is on QQ - It seems to like like a chinese community.

It is majority Chinese; but if you dont like Skype, get QQ and then give your friends your QQ number, hopefully they will join as well.

 

There are thousands, if not tens of thousands of non-Chinese users, but we are overwhelmed by the billion and a half Chinese users.

 

You may even end up with some Chinese friends, as a few will pop up and ask to be your friend; some because they are interested in you, or the prestige in having a foreign friend, but most because they want to practice their English!!!

Jabber...... and pidgen etc.

 

Job done.