NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Instant messenger

An instant messenger is a client which allows instant text communication between two or more people through a network such as the Internet. I created this screenshot from PowWow the chat program. ... I created this screenshot from PowWow the chat program. ... screenshot from the PowWow personal communicator chat program PowWow was one of the first Internet instant message and chat programs for Windows. ... An example of graphical user interface in Microsoft Windows XP An example of graphical user interface in Apples Mac OS X A graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced gooey) is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in... In computing, a client is a system that accesses a (remote) service on another computer by some kind of network. ... In language, text is a broad term for something that contains words to express something. ...

Overview

An instant messenger is a client that hooks up to an instant messaging service. Instant messaging differs from e-mail in that conversations happen in realtime. Also, most services offer a "presence awareness" feature, indicating whether people on one's list of contacts are currently online and available to chat. This may be called a 'Buddy List'. In early instant messaging programs, each letter appeared as it was typed, and when letters were deleted to correct typos this was also seen in real time. This made it more like a telephone conversation than exchanging letters. In modern instant messenging programs, the other party in the conversation generally only sees each line of text right after a newline is started. Instant messaging applications may also include the ability to post an away message, the equivalent of the message on a telephone answering machine. In computing, a client is a system that accesses a (remote) service on another computer by some kind of network. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... An operation within a larger dynamic system is called a real-time operation if the combined reaction- and operation-time of a task is shorter than the maximum delay that is allowed, in view of circumstances outside the operation. ... In computing, Presence is defined as the availability and willingness of the user (presentity) for communication. Presence information is published by individuals to other systems users, known as watchers or subscribers, to indicate their communication state. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ... An away message is a function of some instant messaging applications whereby a user may post a message that appears automatically to other users if they attempt to make contact, and he or she is not available. ...

Popular instant messaging services on the public Internet include MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, .NET Messenger Service, Jabber and ICQ. These services owe many ideas to an older (and still popular) online chat medium known as Internet Relay Chat (IRC). MSN Messenger in Windows 9x and 2000 Operating Systems. ... The AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is an ad-supported instant messaging and presence computer program, published by AOL, which uses the OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol. ... Yahoo! Messenger is a popular 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 notified when... The . ... Jabber is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging and presence. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Online chat is a generic term for what are now mostly known as instant messaging applications—computer programs that enable two-way typing to connect users to each other. ... Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of instant communication over the Internet. ...

An early form of instant messaging was implemented on the PLATO system in the early 1970s. Later the UNIX/LINUX "talk" instant messaging system was widely used by engineers and academics in the 1980s and 1990s to communicate across the internet. ICQ was the first general instant messenger introduced for non-UNIX/LINUX computers in November 1996. After its introduction, a number of variations of instant messaging have arisen in parallel in many places, and each application has its own protocols. This has led to users running many instant messaging applications simultaneously to be available on several networks. Alternately they could use a client which supports many protocols, such as Gaim, Trillian or Jabber clients. Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Talk Instant messenger PowWow (chat program) User:Rnt20 ... Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Talk Instant messenger PowWow (chat program) User:Rnt20 ... Statue of a philosopher, presumably Plato, in Delphi. ... The title of this article is incorrect because of technical limitations. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... November is the eleventh month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with the length of 30 days. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... For meanings in specific fields, see protocol (computing) or protocol (cryptography). ... Gaim 1. ... Trillian is a multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM programs from one client, such as AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, and Jabber and Skype networks (the latter four with Trillian Pro which allows for... Jabber is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging and presence. ...

Recently, many instant messaging services have begun to offer video conferencing features, Voice Over IP (VoIP), and web conferencing services have begun to integrate both video conferencing and instant messaging capabilities. Hence, the boundaries between these media have become blurred. Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Groupware | Telecommunications stubs ... IP Telephony, also called Internet telephony, is the technology that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the Internet or a dedicated Internet Protocol (IP) network instead of dedicated voice transmission lines. ... Web conferencing is used to hold group meetings or live presentations over the Internet. ...

On December 19, 2002, AOL Time Warner announced that ICQ had been issued a United States patent for instant messaging, but they also said that they had no plans on enforcing their patent at the present time. December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Time Warner Inc. ... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or substance (known as an invention) which is new, inventive and useful. ...

The term "instant messenger" is a Service Mark of AOL Time Warner and may not be used in software not affiliated with AOL. For this reason, the instant messaging client formerly known as GAIM or gAIM is now only to be referred to as Gaim or gaim. A trademark used to identify a service rather than a product is called a service mark (SM). ... Time Warner Inc. ... Gaim 1. ...

Origin of term

The phrase "instant message" was devised by Paul M. A. Linebarger for a gimmick in the science-fiction stories he wrote in the 1960s under the pseudonym Cordwainer Smith. His instant messages were to be across interstellar distances at speeds faster than that of light, and said to be expensive so he could write plots concerning their unaffordability. From there, the phrase was picked up by members of New England Science Fiction Association, many of whom were computer professionals, for their weekly mimeographed newsletter. The phrase may have come from there. The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Cordwainer Smith – pronounced CORdiner Smith – was the pen-name used by the American author Dr. ... The New England Science Fiction Association, NESFA, is a science fiction club, founded in 1967. ... Mimeograph machine The Mimeograph machine (commonly abbreviated to Mimeo), or stencil duplicator was a printing machine that was far cheaper per copy than any other process in runs of several hundred to several thousand copies. ...

Cooperation

There have been several attempts to create a unified standard for instant messaging: IETF's SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and SIMPLE (SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leverage), APEX (Application Exchange), Prim (Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol), the open XML-based XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol), more commonly known as Jabber and OMA's (Open Mobile Alliance) IMPS (Instant Messaging and Presence Service) created specifically for mobile devices. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is charged with developing and promoting Internet standards. ... Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a protocol developed by the IETF MMUSIC Working Group and proposed standard for setting up sessions between one or more clients. ... In computing, SIMPLE (Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions) is an instant messaging (IM) protocol. ... Application Exchange (APEX) was an early proposal to the IETF of a standard protocol for instant messaging. ... Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, or XMPP, is an open, XML-based protocol for near real-time extensible messaging and presence events. ... Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol, or XMPP, is an open, XML-based protocol for near real-time extensible messaging and presence events. ... Jabber is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging and presence. ... The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) delivers open specifications for the mobile industry, helping to create interoperable services enablers to work across countries, operators and mobile terminals and is driven by market requirements. ...

Most attempts at creating a unified standard for the major IM providers (AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft) have failed and each continues to use its own proprietary protocol. America Online, or AOL for short, is a corporate online service provider and Internet service provider (ISP). ... ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT) headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. ...

Some instant messaging applications attempt to combine the many disparate protocols into a single, unified client. Examples include Trillian, Jabber, Zango Messenger, Gaim, Fire, Proteus, Miranda IM, Adium, Everybuddy, Ayttm, Kopete, Centericq and BitlBee. The Jabber/XMPP protocol takes a somewhat different approach, moving the task of communicating to the other services to the server, allowing clients to be simpler, and waste fewer resources. Also, this way all Jabber clients are intrinsically interoperable with other networks. Trillian is a multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM programs from one client, such as AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, and Jabber and Skype networks (the latter four with Trillian Pro which allows for... Jabber is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging and presence. ... Zango Messenger is a free multi-service instant messaging (IM) application that allows users to communicate with anyone using AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger and ICQ from one interface. ... Gaim 1. ... Fire is the first instant messenger client for Mac OS X (previously for OPENSTEP), that can access IRC, Jabber, AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, and Apple Bonjour. ... Proteus in action Proteus is an instant messenger client for Mac OS X that can access the Jabber, AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger networks, as well as supporting chat over local Rendezvous networks. ... Miranda Instant Messenger is a minimalistic, open source (GNU GPL) multiprotocol instant messaging application for Microsoft Windows. ... Adium is an instant messaging client for Mac OS X supporting multiple protocols through the libgaim library. ... Ayttm is an instant messaging (aka chat) client that provides all-in-one chat functionality for several major instant messaging services from one simple program. ... Kopete is a multi-protocol instant messenger, supporting Jabber, ICQ, AIM, Gadu-Gadu, GroupWise, IRC, .NET Messenger Service, SMS, and Yahoo! Messenger. ... Centericq is a text mode menu- and window-driven IM interface that supports the ICQ, Yahoo!, AIM, MSN, IRC, and Jabber protocols. ... BitlBee is an IRC to other IM-chat-networks gateway created by Wilmer van der Gaast and others. ...

There is a mobile telephone industry initiative to bring instant messaging to mobile phones. Originally called Wireless Village, it has now been taken over by the Open Mobile Alliance. There is a free service called Yamigo which allows instant messaging on mobile phones even if your carrier doesn't provide its own Wireless Village service. Yamigo acts as a standalone instant messaging network, but can also integrate with ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo and Jabber. Wireless Village is a set of specifications for mobile instant messaging and presence services. ... The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) delivers open specifications for the mobile industry, helping to create interoperable services enablers to work across countries, operators and mobile terminals and is driven by market requirements. ... Yamigo is a free service that allows instant messaging on mobile phones. ...

Some approaches, such as that adopted by the Sonork enterprise IM software or the Jabber/XMPP network, allows organizations to create their own private instant messaging network by enabling them to limit access to the server (often with the IM network entirely behind their firewall) and administer user permissions. Typically, a dedicated corporate IM server has several advantages such as pre-populated contact lists, integrated authentication, and better security and privacy.

Some networks have made changes to prevent them from being utilized by such multi-network IM clients. For example, Trillian had to release several revisions and patches to allow its users to access the MSN, AOL, and Yahoo networks, after changes were made to these networks. The major IM providers typically cite the need for formal agreements as well as security concerns as reasons for making these changes. In computing, a patch is a software update meant to fix problems with a computer program. ... Computer security is the effort to create a secure computing platform, designed so that agents (users or programs) can only perform actions that have been allowed. ...

Servers

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of instant communication over the Internet. ... Jabber is an open, XML-based protocol for instant messaging and presence. ...

User base

Encyclopedia > Instant messenger

Contents

Overview

Origin of term

Cooperation

Servers

User base

See also

External links