AIM 1.0.1.2

Overview

Talking with friends, family members and business partners has changed a lot in the last decade. Instant messaging has become the norm and as a result, a vast array of instant messaging tools has flooded the market. AIM is much more than an instant messaging tool because it offers a lot more features than your average tool from this domain. Video chat and integration with social networks are just a few of the features that can be found in AIM. Let’s find out more about this instant messaging tool and its features in this quick article.

Installation

AIM is a lightweight software product boasting a setup kit of just 7MB. Thus, the installation process is smooth and pretty straightforward. It works on all the available versions of Windows you can think of and in terms of bundles, there isn’t any adware or other programs packed into AIM. After the installation is complete, you will be greeted by a really simple interface so let’s move on to the next component.

Interface

The basic and straightforward interface works like a charm. Designed with novice users in mind, the placement of the buttons allows for an easy and quick navigation experience. It is easy to use, intuitive and it looks rather stylish yet quirky. The low level of complexity is great for everyone who doesn’t want to mess around with a thousand settings. You will chat in an instant! Well, I guess this is why they are called instant messaging tools!

Pros

AIM offers a lot of features that should excite every IM user out there. All the standard chat functions are there along with streaming video, online games as well as several business oriented features. The ability to photo share is present as pictures can be dragged and dropped into the photo sharing window. Pictures can also be sent to the local folder. The possibility of sending them to an e-mail account is sorely lacking though. You can see what your buddy is typing with the Real-Time IM capability and the implemented video chat is decent but not as good as Skype or Windows Live Messenger, for example. A very interesting feature provided by AIM is called Lifestream. Basically, Twitter and Facebook updates can be included and the stream is richer with photo and file uploads. Offline IMs, IM Grouping, IM Logging are also featured by AIM. Some cool news is that the buddy list just got bigger and you can stay in touch with up to 1000 of your closest friends. Pretty neat, isn’t it?

Cons

Perhaps the video chat could look better and we could also use more features such as handwriting input and personalized video winks. These are offered by Windows Live Messenger, for example, which is still the staple IM system used by millions of computer users.

Alternatives

Let’s take a look at some alternatives to AIM which include the following tools: Windows Live Messenger, Pidgin, Google Talk, Adium, Digsby, Miranda IM and many more.

Conclusion

All in all, AIM is a decent tool with some good features but not quite up there in other departments when compared to some of its leading competition.