AOL IM is an excellent way to keep in touch with friends and family members who are near, and far away. It is a free service available to everyone who goes onto www.aol.com. Downloading is easy. There are many different downloads available to coincide with your computer system, from Beta versions to Windows ME. Your computer will download these items quickly. Of course, it depends on your computer's memory.

When you are done downloading the program, it's easy to set up a screenname. First, you have to select a creative screenname. But, it's hard to find a good screenname, since most of them are taken. However, once you do find one, all you need to do is type your password, two times. Then, you have to type in your name. So, it's easy to sign up.

You will find that AOL IM is very easy to use. Enter in all your friends' AOL screennames and you are good to go. Either your friend is online and you will see their name under the "buddies" windows. If they are not online, you will see their names under the "offline" window.

There are many features, such as the ability to read your email while your your IM is on (if you have an AOL account). You can have a profile, which you may edit at any time. You can have a News Ticker which tells you everything from the current events, to entertainment news, to stock market quotes.

You can even interact with your buddies, or chat with new people online. You can play a game, you can talk and hear someone, and you can even send them pictures (such as family photo albums).

It's an easy transition from AOL IM to AOL membership. You can get an AOL membership account, if you have an AOL IM account.

AOL IM is a great tool to keep in touch with new and old friends that are near and far away.

Recommended: Yes