Microsoft’s newest iteration of it’s popular instant messenger service once again proves that they are technologically ahead of the competition. That does not mean, however, that they are the most popular. That title still tends to fall on America Online’s AIM, a messenger that is not even close in terms of technology, security, or lack of advertisements. MSN’s multitude of features include webcam support, a peer to peer file sharing software application, a gaming section, as well as an interface that is very simplistic and easy to navigate.
The one thing that Newbie.net will never fail to do is point out the inadequacies of products, application or even people. It is what we do...it makes us feel like big men. Therefore we must point out the inherent flaw with this and other proprietary pieces of software. The inability to communicate with other instant messengers is a common problem with MSN and AIM as well as other popular instant messengers. Luckily, there are third party, open source, and independently developed versions that will help you to bridge the gap between the instant messengers. There is nothing worse then having to run three or four programs to contact your friends, and with these more secure and spam free pieces of software, you can send IM’s to people on all platforms with just one program taking up your memory (and most likely much less memory then just one of the real versions). All this being said, Newbie recommends trying Trillian, a piece of software that is fairly well established and although not open source, still is most likely much more secure then other options. You can also search the net for other instant messengers, and we at Newbie will be the first to post places where you can download the best free and secure pieces of software.