instant messengers- which one?

[kerriganm]

thought i'd get an instant messenger so my boyfriend and i can chat when we're online. he has a modem and doesn't have a dedicated phone line, which is *such* a pain.

i'm a little hesitant about this- are there dangers? viruses, spyware, whatever? which ones are better than others? i know very little about instant messengers. i'm usually working too hard to chat! ;-J

thanks for your input!

 

[beedubaya]

Use AIM

 

[Blind_Arrow]

MSN! free and widely used.

 

[kerriganm]

um... not to be too annoying, but...

can anyone suggest an IM that isn't owned by AOL or microsoft? being inherently evil and all...

 

[Blind_Arrow]

well, MSN is public (means free), else there isnt anyone that is not owned by none.

you can use yahoo/MSN/ICQ

 

[Lone Wolf]

I'm somewhat partial to Yahoo. However i use all of them because inevitably i meet new friends on-line who doesn't use the same IM client as i do.

Trillian is good.... i started using that a couple of years ago myself.

 

[kerriganm]

thanks, all!!

 

[Alanis]

I like yahoo the best, then trillian, then msn, then aim, then ICQ. Icq uses a few more resources than the others. Yes I have all of them. Yes virus' can be spread through them, but your AV can be set to cover IM's just like it covers your e-mail!

Alanis

 

[sippin codeine]

Trillian pro hands down

 

[erica]

so you definitely think it's worth it to pay for trillian?