Overview of Instant Messaging

Instant messengers are a communication method that is being used more and more often these days. They allow you to chat instantly with people situated at the other side of the world via the internet and a computer (and now more regularly with a mobile phone). The enormous advantage when compared with email is that the conversation is done in a direct fashion, like if you were on a telephone.

Very simple to use, you simply need to connect to a network that your friends use and you are able to see if they are online and available for chat. Everything is available to have an interesting conversation with the possibility of using voice, video and smileys…


The possibility of staying permanently connected with your friends is a highly desired thing these days, which explains the enormous uptake of this communication method. Do you know anyone these days that doesn’t have a WLM address? (Windows Live Messenger – the most widely used instant messaging client in France).

This tutorial has the purpose of explaining where instant messaging comes from, how it functions as well as explaining a few of the different available options. The purpose of this article is not to perform a complete listing of each IM, but instead to look over what already exists and to show you that other alternatives exist which are a little more open then Windows Live Messenger and Skype.