Software Tips

From RIO Communications

Keeping track of friends on line...

Wouldn't it be nice to know if a friend or business associate was on line and be able to send them a quick note, file, or URL? If you had something to discuss with them, wouldn't it be nice to have a program that let you know they were on line and allow you go go into a chat program with them?

In this issue of Software Tips, we are going to talk about two *free* programs that will let you do all of the above.

The first program, and by far the better of the two is ICQ by Mirabilis. The other is AOL Instant Messenger. If you are an AOL user, I suggest you stick with their program. ICQ seems to have some problems when running on an AOL connection for some users. You can give ICQ a try but if you have problems you may want to go with Instant Messenger.

ICQ Screen Capture ICQ by Mirabilis is a great program. I am finding new features in it all the time and it seems that every upgrade has something even better than the last. Once you add a user to your list you will be able to see if they are online when you start ICQ. You can see in the capture at the left how easy it is to tell if a user is on or off line. Clicking on a user name will bring up a menu of things you can do as far as that user goes. Sending a message, sending a file, going into a chat mode, or sending them the URL of the page you are currently on in your WWW browser are just a few of the options. You can download ICQ from their WWW site or you can go to their site and take a tour of the program. They also have a power tour for advanced users. If you spend any time working online with others, this is a program well worth having. It comes in flavors for Win 3.*, Win 95, MAC, and Java for the Sun o/s.


AOL Instant Messenger Screen Capture AOL Instant Messenger is just the ticket for keeping track of users if you are on, or have friends on AOL. You *do not* have to be an AOL user to download and use the program.


Need comments from SUZIE about this AOL crap!
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