Instant Messaging

As the name implies, instant messaging allows for immediate communication between computer users in real time. It is useful for a number of tasks, including:

• Get a quick answer to a short, simple question
• Confer with several people online simultaneously
• Send or receive a message while you are on the phone
• Converse over long distance without phone charges

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) provides three IM programs on workstations in Unity computer labs :

• Pidgin (Windows)
  Windows and Linux versions of PidginThis link will open in a new window are also available as free downloads. You can configure it to work with several IM services simultaneously; e.g., AIM, ICQ, Yahoo!.
• iChat (Macintosh)
• AIM (Macintosh)

Other IM programs

• AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)This link will open in a new window
• ICQThis link will open in a new window
• JabberThis link will open in a new window
• Messenger (a component of Windows LiveThis link will open in a new window)
• Yahoo! MessengerThis link will open in a new window
• Adium XThis link will open in a new window (Maxintosh OS X)