INSTANT MESSAGING SERVICES

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IRC isn’t the easiest thing to use. Not only do you have the problem of finding an IRC network to connect to, but then you may be forced to use cryptic line commands to get anything done. So rather than attempt to learn the often arcane commands needed to chat over IRC, many people prefer the much simpler instant messaging services instead.

These are the four most popular instant messaging services:

MSN Messenger http://messenger.msn.com

ICQ http://www.icq.com

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) http://www.aim.com

Yahoo! Messenger http://messenger.yahoo.com

With file sharing becoming so popular, many of these now let you trade files, such as your favorite MP3 music, with your instant messaging friends, as shown in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5: Many instant messaging services allow you to configure the program to turn on file sharing.

To share files, you simply tell your instant messaging program which folders you want to share and whether you want others to freely copy files from your computer or ask your permission first before doing so. With file sharing turned on, you can join one of the many music-related chat rooms, as shown in Figure 4-6, and start trading MP3s.

Figure 4-6: Instant messaging services provide plenty of music-related chat rooms where you can meet with others, chat about your favorite music, and swap MP3 files.

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