Despite the recent entry of Google into the Instant Messenging arena, Google Talk (GTalk) hasn’t really gotten any boost in terms of usage and popularity. Ever since the time when ICQ was still the IM client of choice, I can only think of Yahoo! Messenger as the most popular one based from observation.
MSN Messenger seems to the be most popular IM client in office settings, maybe because it’s a built-in software in Windows and it can be easily manipulated from within the network. The last 3 big companies I worked with allows MSN but not YM or ICQ.
Yahoo Meseenger on the other hand is most popular among teen-age kids mainly because internet cafes have them and web cam support is readily available among others.
ICQ is seems to be a thing of the past. I haven’t seen a PC with ICQ installed in it for quite a while now. Anybody else still using it?
Google Talk on the other hand is still inadequate in so many levels. All hype and fireworks but lacks the feature necessary to grab market share. Still I prefer it for its simplicity. If only I could convince all 300 of my YM contacts to move over to Gtalk. 😀
19 comments
Anybody can use all of those all at the same time with the proper tool. On Windows, Trillian (http://trillian.cc) is most popular. On my Mac OS X, I use Adium (http://adiumx.com). It’s a nice thing to integrate all your contacts in one software — clients on MSN, friends on Gtalk, family on Yahoo IM …
I like gtalk. Simple, elegant, just frikin’ works.
Not much on the privacy features, though.
At any rate, for going through office firewalls, there’s always meebo, unless they’ve blocked that one already.
Nope, no ICQ here. I got GTalk but most of my contacts are on Y!M and I got not MSN Messenger. I am not using it anymore.
i have more contacts in Yahoo but i used Trillian for quite a while and now i use Gaim. i use meebo if i’m in an internet cafe and i can’t install Trillian or Gaim. 🙂
It’s funny how “AIM is to US, as YM is to Pinas”
still got ICQ here, its the good old days 🙂
used to have a 6 digit # 🙂
AIM is to US because of AOL service which it is packaged.
since most of you guys use GTalk, has anyone of you tried “https://gtalkr.com” ?
not all people use AOL though
Personally, I like YM best but it seems to be “slow” lately. (i.e. delayed messages, status show a contact online when he/she logged off hours ago, etc.)
Some of my friends who use IM in collaborating with on-shore counterparties use AIM instead because it consistently delivers messages instantaneously. I presents much less “personalization” options though.
Another trend is corporate IM, like here: ePLDT offers instant messaging service in RP
About AIM: AOL is planning to get into social networking and compete against MySpace which is the leader in the US (not Friendster).
I want to add a hearty second to the Trllian recommendation. I never use the actual ICQ client anymore … they have turned it into some kind of nonsensical kids toy, but my 1460425 ID on ICQ is still used occasionally.
In the YM versus MM debate I always wonder why savvy users don’t mention the on major difference. YM is most useful to me becuase I can send a message instantly or by default as an off line if my recipient is not on at the time. With MM, you get a goofy ‘Did you want to send an email’ query. D’oh, if I had wanted to send an email I would have done so. It makes a serious difference in business, especially when dealing across the pond, say from Philippines to US and vice versa.
Best regards
Dave
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i say, why choose if you can have both..?
naguguluhan ako ke dave starr, “never use” and “anymore” in one sentence..
I must be weird. X-chat! X-chat is the way to go for me 😉 I don’t use the voice services so I just IM people. I connect to Bitlbee for my IMing needs. So it’s like being on IRC all the time.
X-chat or ERC on Emacs. There’s GAIM too, which is really handy.
http://www.meebo.com works for me.
when they start implementing google chat on google mail, its definitly gonna be google talk..
Arnold is ur right, nothing beats trillian. i’m a windows user with contact in msn, yahoo, icq, gtalk adn irc. i use trillian for all of them. Trillian Pro looks neat and good in low specs pc. u can even play mp3 and stream online with its Trilly Tunes plugins. How i wish i can connect it in Chikka Messnegr too hehehehe….
has anyone used miranda?
i used it for quite some time now.
I use trillian too. BTW, YM now has pinoy audibles. Check it out. Also posted it in my blog.