NationMaster - Encyclopedia: OSCAR protocol

OSCAR is AOL's instant messaging and presence information protocol standing for Open System for CommunicAtion in Realtime. Currently OSCAR is in use for AOL's two main instant messaging systems: ICQ and AIM. Screenshot of AOL.com AOL LLC (formerly America Online, Inc) is an American online service provider, bulletin board system, and media company operated by Time Warner. ... 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 computer and telecommunications networks, presence information is a status indicator that conveys ability and willingness of a potential communication partner - for example a user to communicate. ... For other senses of this word, see protocol. ... The ICQ Logo ICQ is an instant messaging computer program, owned by Time Warners America Online subsidiary. ... AIM redirects here. ...

Despite its name, the specifications for the protocol are proprietary. AOL has gone to great lengths to keep competitors, namely Microsoft, Jabber, and Cerulean Studios, from implementing compatible clients for their proprietary messaging system. In 2002, AOL signed a contract with Apple Computer, allowing them to use it (as well as AOL's own code libraries) in their iChat program. This allows iChat users to interact with ICQ and AIM users directly. As part of the deal, Apple's .Mac service could hook into the service by allowing .Mac members to log in using their .Mac accounts (in the form of the full e-mail address — username@mac.com) on the AIM network. Proprietary indicates that a party, or proprietor, exercises private ownership, control or use over an item of property, usually to the exclusion of other parties. ... Microsoft is one of few companies engaging itself in the console wars Where they are up against sony, nintendo, and of course sharps new console which may cause a threat. ... 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). ... Cerulean Studios is a limited liability company focused on developing computer software. ... Apple Inc. ... iChat is an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ and Jabber client for Mac OS X. Using a Jabber-like protocol and Bonjour for user discovery, it also allows for LAN communication. ... .Mac (pronounced Dot Mac) refers to a group of online services offered by Apple Computer mainly for its Mac OS X users, although a limited subset of features are available for other platforms. ...

Large parts of the protocol are nowadays understood after reverse-engineering the protocol, implemented by an ever-increasing number of 3rd party clients. Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc. ...

On March 6, 2006, AOL released the AIM SDK and launched a developer website, allowing developers to build plugins for AIM Triton, and build their own custom clients, which connect over the OSCAR protocol. They have not, however, released any information about the protocol itself. March 6 is the 65th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (66th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Software Development Kit, or SDK for short, is typically a set of development tools that allows a software engineer to create applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, operating system or similar. ... Aim Triton is a the latest official Aim client. ...

See also

This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging protocols. ... It has been suggested that TOC2_protocol be merged into this article or section. ... In computer software standards and documentation, deprecation is the gradual phasing-out of a software or programming language feature. ... The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. ...

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Protocol information

Implementations

Categories: Telecommunications stubs | AOL | Instant messaging A programming language is an artificial language that can be used to control the behavior of a machine, particularly a computer. ... Wikibooks has a book on the topic of C Programming The C programming language (often, just C) is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie for use on the Unix operating system. ... Also, due to technical limitations, C# redirects here. ... Also, due to technical limitations, C# redirects here. ... Delphi is the primary programming language of Borland Delphi. ... Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. ... Objective Caml (OCaml) is a general-purpose programming language descended from the ML family, created by Xavier Leroy, JÃ©rÃ´me Vouillon, Damien Doligez, Didier RÃ©my and others in 1996. ... Perl is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. ...

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Protocol information

Implementations

See also