Let's exchange PM's but where?

Serious thoughts filled this blog for quite a while, now it's time to switch to lighter articles.

Love chatting? I think most of us do. I text my college buddies and other friends through Chikka, have video conference with my sisters in other parts of the world with YM, and teach on-line to Japanese people using Skype.

In UP Mindanao where I studied, Linux - FreeBSD was the OS (Operating System) that we used, so my classmates used Kopete. I don't know maybe it's part of the kernel package. However, I actually preferred Meebo over it, or sometimes I also used KoolIM.

Today, there are a lot of messenger services to mention. I have Goggle Talk too, but I don't have contacts, except for my boss, so I rarely utilize that.

Yet I never used MIRC, AIM, ICQ and MSN.

What's the fuss? Well, I was thinking of comparing these messengers' services (hopefully for your benefit). If you are well-versed with all these, so just skip this post and maybe correct me if you notice that I made a mistake.

Yahoo Messenger's good points:

• lots of contacts - almost everyone has a yahoomail (I assume in the Philippines particularly *wink) which translates to same yahoo messenger ID.
  
• file transfer - availability of file transfer in a conversation box, I am not sure of the maximum size that can be delivered but my sister sent me two 256mb videos at the same time and I was able to download it one and a half hour later (hehe)
• photo-sharing - one can upload pictures to the chat box without requiring the party to download the images
• free PC to PC calls
  
• voice/chat/video conference - i don't know if there is a limit to the number of users who can talk to each other in a shared chat box though
  
• IMVironments - if you want to attach some virtual environments to the conversation, for example if you are in-love, you can use the "Falling Hearts" IM environment
  
• doodle - I love drawing and this is very useful tool when my nephew Ken talks to his other aunts, uncles and cousins online. He asks them draw what he likes them to draw. Good drawing skill is not necessary.
• audibles also attracts children if you need to talk to them over the internet and keep them still on their seats. It's also convenient to use for greetings with adults too!
  
• games - are handy when you are bored and need something to keep you awake, this is what we used to do with my male pals in college... they like the competitiveness of the games... especially Pools, Word Racer, Literati and Toki Toki Boom. The games can only be played one-by-one though (Java installed is required to both parties).
  
• mail alert - when a new message comes to your email, YM gives new message alerts
  
• avatar/picture - you can personalize an avatar for fun that matches your mood and personality or you can upload a picture
  
• logging in as invisible - if you don't want to be seen when you come online, you can select the "sign in as invisible" check box
  
• stealth settings - you can remain forever invisible to somebody in your list unless you change the configuration
• webcam - you can broadcast your live video from your web cam so the other parties you are chatting to can see you
  
• now available even in yahoomail browser - given that OS and browser are compatible with the required
• emoticons - express your thoughs in cute smileys and emotion icons. Some hidden emoticons you can use can be found here
• status - you can personalize your status or YM sets it for you whether your free as in available, busy, away or idle
  
• connectivity to MSN messenger - you can add an MSN user as a contact in your YM
• connectivity to some telecommunication networks - in the Philippines, one can send an SMS to some networks (not very reliable though) and you can sign in to YM using your mobile device
  

Skype

• voice/chat/video conference
• file transfer
• smileys and emoticons
• free PC to PC calls
• mute your microphone - this is very convenient especially is you suddenly find yourself about to sneeze, cough or yawn
  
• play games similar to YM's games but both parties need to install the third party plug-ins
  
• call and message forwarding to mobile phone - when you buy Skype credit, you can enable the call forwarding feature. This allows anybody from your contacts to call you for free
• send SMS using skype - sometimes my boss sends SMS to my mobile phone (you need credit to do that)
  
• birthday alerts - notifies you when one of your contacts is celebrating his or her birthday
• call recording - if you download the Pamela Call Recorder add-in, you can save atleast 15-minutes of your call and store it in your PC forever (free version) and unlimited call time if you register and pay a certain fee
• enable video - limited to one on one calls and conferences because you cannot share your video if you are not using voice calls
• message archiving - messages are stored as cookies in your PC, you can retrieve them anytime
  
• take snapshots from the other person's video stream
• profile - you can add a profile that your contacts can see
  

Google Talk

• file transfer
• gmail notifications - you can browse all your new google mail - including the title, sender and date sent and is better when compared to YM mail alert
• free PC to PC calls
• available in Gmail
  

Oh well, I haven't finished even half of the comparison. I didn't realize it was so exhaustive topic. I've only tackled Yahoo Messenger basically but I need to rest 'cause I'm sleepy. Hehe. After all, sleep is important for a sharper mind for a new day. Take a look at this news.

This isn't a sponsored post. But I'll be happy if the sites I have mentioned will give a bonus (haha ;)) lol How about you, what do you think is the most convenient IM service provider?