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What is AIM?

Tips & Tricks

Get the most out of AOL Instant Messenger

• AIM Smiley Codes
• Free AIM Expressions
• Send hidden messages using the 'F2' trick
• Create your own AIM Expressions
• A.I.M. Frame
• Learn about AIM Expressions Skin AIM 5.x with AIMutation

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Instant Messaging: AIM Center

Introduction to AOL Instant Messenger

Jeff Hester waters the plants, empties the waste baskets and occasionally sharpens pencils at BigBlueBall headquarters. Sometimes, he writes.

AOL Instant Messenger, or simply AIM, is one of the most popular instant messengers out there, with millions of users. They have focused on primarily on English-speaking countries, but that is slowly changing. AIM is free to everyone. You don't need to be an AOL subscriber in order to sign-up to download and use AIM.

A Basic Instant Messenger
AIM's functionality is pretty standard. You can send person-to-person IMs, but both parties must be online (no offline storage for later delivery as with Yahoo, Odigo and ICQ). You can also create group chats on-the-fly.

Online Awareness
There are tools that let you add a remote to your web site (like mine on the left) but it's not true online awareness. In simpler terms, the AIM remote isn't smart enough to know if I'm really online. If you try to send me an instant message through it when I'm not online, it just disappears into nothingness! It does make it easy to put a chat room on your web site (for people using AIM only), and let people add your AIM screen name to their buddy list.

Advertising
Did I say AIM was free? What I should have said is that you won't pay for the privilege of using it, but you will have to tolerate lots of ads. There are ads on the top and bottom of the messenger, and when you launch AIM, you'll see a pop-up screen of questionable value. Some useful and interesting things, but also more ads. Well, mom always said you don't get something for nothing!

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