what is it with AIM?

Question

i have MSN, but all my friends also have AIM.. they want me to get it, but before i do, what's so great about it? and why would you have MSN&&AIM?

Answer 1

All the messaging programs are essencially the same. You just have to use whatever your friends use. There are programs out there, like gaim that will let you run multiple messaging applications.

Personally I have both installed.

So either convince all your friends to use MSN or just install AIM, there really isnt much advantage to either one.

Answer 2

Technically nowadays they share the same function ability. AIM now does webcams. They both are able to share files. For me, AIM was the first choice when IM first became popular because all of the AOL users were already reachable via AIM. Then there became other options such as MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, and even Gmail. I use them all, and never installed the applications, with www.meebo.com, a web-based multi-messenger application. There are downloadable ones as well, but you usually forfiet all the features besides chatting. Trillian is a big one which does do file sharing if I remember correctly. If your buddies already all have MSN, then stick to just that. The norm for all my friends and family is AIM though. The ones that do have MSN or Yahoo, also have AIM, so that's my default.

Answer 3

Given you have friends on different instant messenger environments you might want to check out an open source application called GAIM. GAIM supports

AIM
MSN (including Hotmail email)
Yahoo
Jabber
ICQ
Gadu-Gadu
Novell

As for why AIM is so great, that really comes down to a matter of opinion. AOL (AIM) and Microsoft (MSN IM) have been competing for a while and have driven each other to improve the offerings over time. I have accounts on both for essentially the same situation as you, friends on each system.