I don't know which message service has been around longer, yahoo!messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, or ICQ, but I have all three on my computer and I use all three.

ICQ might be my favorite because it seems to have the most options as far as chatting and messaging are concerned. The interactive chat ability of ICQ is really a neat feature. The letters appear as you type them letter by letter. They even delete as you delete so that your chat partner's chat screen is identical to your's and they react in the same exact way.

If you need to send an urgent message to your friend but he isn't online, no problem. You can still send him a message even if his computer is completely shut down and unplugged. It will appear on his screen and flash the next time he opens his ICQ program.

Another neat feature of ICQ is that you can specifically show how active you are at the time being. There are different settings like temporary away, offline, do not disturb, available for chat, online but not available for chat. These settings just make the whole messaging experience a lot more convenient and interactive.

I would recommend ICQ to all of my friends. Actually, most of them already have it.

Some good features of Yahoo!Messenger:
Voice chat and file transfer
Alerts for your stock quotes, Yahoo! Mail messages, and Calendar
appointments
News, Weather, Stock Quotes, Sports Scores

Some good features of AIM:
Send messages to your friends
Chat rooms
Get instant news and stock quotes
Find new friends online
Away Messages
Buddy List and Buddy Pictures
News Ticker
Easy File Transfer
Over 40 Million Registered Users

Some good features of ICQ:
Offline Messages
Away Messages
Interactive Chat Rooms
Quick File Transfer
Locate Friends
Locate Members who want to chat
More Advanced Features

All three message services are excellent and I would recommend them to anyone. I would, however, recommend the AIM and Yahoo!Messenger more for the beginners that don't know much about computing and ICQ for the slightly more advanced. AOL Instant Messenger probably has the most registered common computer users.



Recommended: Yes