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America
Online's Instant Messenger is probably one of the most
popular because of it's one main feature.. You can chat
with any of the 20 Million Subscribers they
have. If you are not on AOL already you can
download the program and create your own "screen
name" to use by which others will recognize you, the
one problem as I'm sure you can imagine is that with so
many subscribers alot of the "screen names" are
taken. For example, I use "bucky716"
- of course a basic nickname isn't going to be available
so I used 716 which refers to my area
code. Alot of other people will use something
like "xxbuckyxx," if the name you want is taken
try and be creative instead of using
"bucky7634" which would be a random number AOL
assignes you. With this you can create a
"Buddy List" and add other users to it and when
they sign on they are listed and you can send them
messages. The one real downside to this
program is that you cannot have "multi-user"
chat meaning you have to have a separate little window
open for every person you are chatting
with. Very easy to use and one of the most
popular. ==List of BBSERS who use this== |
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ICQ (I Seek
You) is probably second most popular behind AOL with
chatting over the Internet. It is similar in
that you can maintain a "Buddy List" except ICQ
refers to it as a "Contact List." With
ICQ when you sign up you are assigned a UIN# and then
from there you can setup any nickname you
want! If you meet someone first you'd give
them your ICQ# and then once you put someone on your
contact list you don't have to remember all of the #'s
and who is who, they showup on your list with there
nickname. ICQ is better than AOL IM in many
ways.. You can still send messages back and forth and you
can do this online or offline. You can create
a chat room and invite as many people as ya want into it
(people using ICQ that is). If you want to
send someone a file you can just click on there name and
then "FILE" and send a file directly to
them. If you find a web site you can click on
there name and send them the url of the web
site. It has many many more benefits than AOL
IM.. most people today have decent computers with large
hard drivers, if you are one of them I'd say just use
both of these. An icon will just sit in your
system tray assuming your using Windows 95 and they don't
take up much space at all. ==List of BBSERS who use this== |
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IRC also known as Internet Relay Chat is different than both of the above. With IRC you can still chat with just one person if you want to or you can join a chatroom that can have anywhere from 2 people to 1000 people in it. If your looking to actually chat about various subjects and meet many different people than this is for you. If you use Windows95 mIRC is probably the most popular program to use, if you have a Mac e-mail tim@buffnet.net and he'll be able to help you out a little more as he is a Mac user. IRC is great for chatting with numerous people at once in that you don't have to "sign up" or any of that stuff, it's only drawback is that the only thing you can do is just sit around and wait for someone to join your channel. I've registered a channel title #wnybbs on DalNET which unfortunately hasn't been very popular since White Wizard passed away, he used to be a regular who you could always count on being there to chat with. If your on the net and have this program just logon and goto the channel and stick around for a while. |
| Chat on the Web w/ Your Browser |
This is a Java Applet window that runs from within your web browser.. It takes a moment to load so be patient and check it out. The only problem I've noticed is that it does NOT work at all if you behind a firewall. If you know a way around this PLEASE email me and let me know! |
| SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS - For all of these
you will need either an ISP or being using AOL for Windows95.. If you have a Mac email Tim@buffnet.net and he can help ya out a bit more. Also for the Web Based Chat you will need IE or Netscape 3.x or higher. If you have any problems feel free to email me at bucky@buffnet.net and I'd be more than willing to help you out. These are probably the most popular chat options available over the Internet. Everyone has there personal favorite so check them all out, I usually use all three. Below is lists on how you can contact other BBSers online with the different programs... |