NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Comparison of instant messaging protocols

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging protocols. Please see the individual protocols' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. A screenshot of PowWow, one of the first instant messengers with a graphical user interface // Instant messaging or IM is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... In the field of telecommunications, a communications protocol is the set of standard rules for data representation, signalling, authentication and error detection required to send information over a communications channel. ...

General information

Basic general information about the protocols: creator, version, amongst others.

	Creator	First public release date	License	Identity (not inc. alias)	Asynchronous message relaying	Transport Layer Security	Unlimited number of contacts	Bulletins to all contacts	One-to-many routing ⁵	SPIM protection	Supports groups or channels for members / nonmembers / nobody
Cspace	Cspace	17 July 2006	Open	Unique RSA-Key	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Gadu-Gadu	Gadu-Gadu	17 July 2000	Proprietary	Unique number e.g. 12345678	Yes						?
IRC	Jarkko Oikarinen	August 1988	Open standard	Nickname!Username@hostname (or "hostmask") e.g. user!~usr@a.b.com ¹	Yes, but via a memo system that differs from the main system This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Messaging spam, sometimes called SPIM, is a type of spam targeting users of instant messaging services. ... CSpace is a cryptographically secure, decentralised peer-to-peer-based communications system for file sharing and chat based on text, voice and video. ... CSpace is a cryptographically secure, decentralised peer-to-peer-based communications system for file sharing and chat based on text, voice and video. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Gadu-Gadu is an instant messaging program that is popular in Poland. ... Gadu-Gadu is an instant messaging program that is popular in Poland. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time Internet chat or synchronous conferencing. ... Jarkko Oikarinen, known on IRC as WiZ, was the developer of the first Internet chat network, called IRC, short for Internet Relay Chat. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... // A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things proper name (for example, Bob, Rob, Robbie, Robin, and Bert are possible nicknames for Robert). ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... A hostname (occasionally also, a sitename) is the unique name by which a network attached device (which could consist of a computer, file server, network storage device, fax machine, copier, cable modem, etc. ...	Sometimes, depending on individual server support	No ³	No	Simplistic multicast	Medium	Yes (everyone, multiple simultaneous, any size)
Meca Network	Meca Communications	Nov 2002	Proprietary	Username	Yes						?
MSNP (Windows Live Messenger, etc)	Microsoft	July 1999	Proprietary	E-mail address (Windows Live ID)	Yes	No	Only for certified robots	No	Centralistic	None	?
OSCAR protocol (AIM, ICQ)	AOL	1997	Proprietary	Username or UIN e.g. 12345678	Yes	Yes (Aim Pro, Aim Lite)	No	No	Centralistic	Yes?	Yes (Multiple, simultaneous)
PSYC (Protocol for SYnchronous Conferencing)	PSYC Project	1995	Open	PSYC URI as in psyc://server.example.net/~nickname	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Custom multicast	Yes	Yes (multiple simultaneous, any size, programmable)
Retroshare	Retroshare	21 March 2007	Open	Unique RSA-Key	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
TOC protocol (deprecated)	AOL	?	Proprietary	Username or UIN e.g. 12345678	Yes	No					paying members only
TOC2 protocol	AOL	Sep 2005	Proprietary	Username or UIN e.g. 12345678	Yes	No	No	No	Centralistic	No	paying members only
XMPP (Jabber)	Jeremie Miller, standardized via IETF	January 1999	Open standard	Jabber ID (JID) e.g. usr@a.b.c/home ²	Yes	Yes	Optional ^3,⁴	Yes	Unicast lists	Several Standardized Types	Optional
SIP/SIMPLE	IETF	Dec 2002	Open standard	user@hostname	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Medium	?
YMSG (Yahoo! Messenger)	Yahoo!	?	Proprietary	Username	Yes	No					No (groups discontinued due to liability)
DirectNet	Gregor Richards	January 2006	Open standard	Username							?
Zephyr Notification Service			Open standard								?
Gale	Dan Egnor		Open	Unique RSA key, aliased to user@domain		Yes (public/private key)					Yes (multiple simultaneous, any size, programmable, encrypted)
Skype Protocol	Skype		Proprietary	Username	No	Proprietary		No	No		Yes
	Creator	First public release date	License	Identity (not inc. alias)	Asynchronous message relaying	Transport Layer Security	Unlimited amount of contacts	Bulletins to all contacts	One-to-many routing	SPIM protection	style/practicalities of groups

Note 1: In ~usr@a.b.com, the a.b.com part is known as the "hostmask" and can either be the server being connected from or a "cloak" granted by the server administrator; a more realistic example is ~myname@myisp.example.com. The tilde generally indicates that the username provided by the IRC client on signon was not verified with the ident service. Routing Schemes anycast broadcast multicast unicast Multicast is sometimes also used to refer to a multiplexed broadcast, although that is a very different thing and should not be confused. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... Microsoft Notification Protocol (MSNP, which is not an acronym for Microsoft Network Protocol or Mobile Status Notification Protocol, as is often believed) is the protocol developed by Microsoft for use by the . ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... An -mail address identifies a location to which e-mail messages can be delivered. ... It has been suggested that Microsoft Passport Network be merged into this article or section. ... OSCAR is AOLs instant messaging and presence information protocol standing for Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime. ... â€œAIMâ€ redirects here. ... ICQ is an instant messaging computer program, owned by Time Warners AOL subsidiary. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... UIN means User Identification Number. ... PSYC (Protocol for SYnchronous Conferencing) is a flexible text-based protocol for delivery of data to a flexible amount of recipients or people, by unicast or multicast. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... PSYC (Protocol for SYnchronous Conferencing) is a flexible text-based protocol for delivery of data to a flexible amount of recipients or people, by unicast or multicast. ... A Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), is a compact string of characters used to identify or name a resource. ... Routing Schemes anycast broadcast multicast unicast Multicast is sometimes also used to refer to a multiplexed broadcast, although that is a very different thing and should not be confused. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy the notability guideline or one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: Biographies, Books, Companies, Fiction, Music, Neologisms, Numbers, Web content, or several proposals for new guidelines. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... It has been suggested that TOC2_protocol be merged into this article or section. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... UIN means User Identification Number. ... The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... UIN means User Identification Number. ... Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, or XMPP, is an open, XML-based protocol for near real-time extensible messaging and presence events. ... Official logo of the Jabber Software Foundation Jabber is a collection of open, real-time communication technologies built on the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). ... Jeremie Miller is the inventor of Jabber / XMPP technologies and was the primary developer of jabberd 1. ... The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is charged with developing and promoting Internet standards. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... JID Or Jabber Identity is the username or account name used to access a Jabber Account. ... In computer networks, unicast is the sending of information packets to a single destination. ... The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is an application-layer control (signaling) protocol for creating, modifying, and terminating sessions with one or more participants. ... The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is charged with developing and promoting Internet standards. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... YMSG is the underlying network protocol used by the Yahoo! Messenger instant messaging client, for Yahoo!. Yahoo! Instant Messager supports many features beyond just messaging, including off-line messaging, file transfer, chat, conferencing, voice chat, webcams and avatars. ... Yahoo! Messenger is a popular advertisement-supported instant messaging client and protocol provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger is provided free of charge and can be downloaded and used with a generic Yahoo! ID which also allows access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail, where users can be automatically... Yahoo! Inc. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... DirectNET, Inc. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Created at MIT, as part of Project Athena, Zephyr was designed as an instant messenger protocol and application-suite with a heavy Unix background. ... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ... Gale is an instant messaging system developed by Dan Egnor when he was at Caltech. ... Wiktionary:Open - definition Open set (mathematics) Open (sport) - A type of competition in tennis and golf (among others) where entry is open to all qualifiers regardless of age. ... Skype is a proprietary peer-to-peer Internet telephony (VoIP) network. ... It has been suggested that Skype security be merged into this article or section. ... Proprietary software is software with restrictions on using, copying and modifying as enforced by the proprietor. ... Note: to create a user account for Wikipedia, go to the login page. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Messaging spam, sometimes called SPIM, is a type of spam targeting users of instant messaging services. ... This article is about the Internet protocol. ...

Note 2: In usr@a.b.c/home, the home part is a "resource", which distinguishes the same user when logged in from multiple locations, possibly simultaneously; a more realistic example is user@jabberserver.example.com/home

Note 3: Scalability issue: The protocol gets increasingly inefficient with the amount of contacts.

Note 4: For empirical evidence stpeter often has more than 2000 roster entries, and currently has about 1300. However, if all users were like stpeter, jabber.org wouldn't be up and running most of the time.

Note 5: One-to-many/many-to-many communications primarily comprise presence and groupchat distribution. Some technologies have the ability to distribute data by multicast, avoiding bottlenecks on the sending side caused by the amount of recipients. Efficient distribution of presence is currently however a technological scalability issue for both XMPP (Jabber) and SIP/SIMPLE. ... Many-to-many is a term that describes the third major Internet computing paradigm. ... Routing Schemes anycast broadcast multicast unicast Multicast is sometimes also used to refer to a multiplexed broadcast, although that is a very different thing and should not be confused. ...

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See also

General information