Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2006 > December > 29 > Entry
Get it together, AIM!
I’ve been using AOL Instant Messenger for years (on the Mac, I access it through iChat). It’s pretty much the only chat program I keep using. I’m what you’d call a loyal user.
So why is AOL trying so hard to make me move to something else? Every time I upgrade AIM, they add more terrible features, make the interface uglier and uglier (seriously — what is up with the Cingular-orange buttons?) and lose my preferences. Note to software designers: when someone does an upgrade to software, the user’s settings should always be kept intact by default. I don’t want to hear a monkey laughing every time someone sends me an instant message and I sure don’t want to hear a door squeaking open every time someone goes online. I shouldn’t have to go in and change those settings again every time an incremental update is offered
AOL Instant Messenger has also continued to add annoying multimedia features (some would call it “Malware”) that clog up system resources and spit out loud and grainy commercials in the box above your buddy list.
Among those installed features, AOL Instant Messenger puts Wild Tangent on your PC, which in theory allows you to play online games with other chatters, but in practice is just extra software you might not want or need if you’re using Instant Messenger to chat and don’t intend to play.
If you have an older version of AIM that does everything you want and doesn’t bombard you with ads, I’d suggest you stick with it and avoid upgrading to the new 6.x versions, at least until AOL gets its act together. The only thing I can see that enhances AIM in the latest version is tabbed chatting, which is nice, but not exactly an original new feature.
MySpace, Google, MIcrosoft, Yahoo and other companies have perfectly workable chat software. Just give me one more reason to switch over, AOL.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Applications, Internet
Comments
By Brocktoon
January 10, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
Try Adium on the Mac, Omar. It can budle all of your chat accounts into one program: AIM, iChat, Yahoo, etc. Sounds a lot like Trillian.
By Jordon
January 6, 2007 10:59 AM | Link to this
There are plenty of alternatives to AIM. There's an open source program called GAIM and my personal favorite: www.meebo.com
By Steve M
January 2, 2007 10:57 AM | Link to this
Have you tried Cerulean Studios' Trillian? It lets you connect with AIM, ICQ, MSN and other IM chat tools with one program. (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/)
Omar replies: I used to use Trillian on my old PC laptop (love those transparent windows!) but when I switched over to iBook laptop, there wasn't a version of Trillian for Mac computers (and still isn't, from what I can tell). I may go ahead and put Trillian on my PC and keep using iChat for Mac. I've heard a few people comment negatively about AOL 6.0's "Cascading smilies," by the way (in which a rain of smilies falls within your chat window when someone uses a smiley. Yeah. Nice "feature," AOL).
One downside to Trillian is that it won't do video chat unless you upgrade to "Trillian Pro," but for $25, I may be willing to make the investment.