[Certified Horticulturist]

They're both garbage, crap, junk and trash. Uninstall both from your system, and never use them again. Trojans, worms etc are their friends.

[Xenalyte]

There's very little difference. They both suck.

[Always Right]

Younger kids love IM'ing, I don't care for it. Some of the holes have been fixed, but they do make your computer more susceptible to Trojans.

[Lokibob]

Ask any question, and FReepers will be divided, with the haters coming in early.

[Lokibob]

Examples: Walmart, ebay, Windows, PC, Apple, any model/brand car, lotterys, bullet proof cars. And that is just in the last 2 days.

[Dont Mention the War]

One of those was for Windows Messenger. What is the difference between that and AOL Instant Messenger? And which one do you prefer?

In terms of features, neither one is particularly better than the other. I'd give AOL the overall edge simply because far more people have AOL instant messenger accounts. But Windows Messenger is a lot less annoying; it doesn't open up three different windows full of unwanted news headlines, ads, and the like, as AOL does.

Of course, if you don't already use instant messaging, you don't really need either one.

[js1138]

OK, here's a contrary opinion. Last year my daughter got married and took a trip around the world. She was gone for two months. She took a cheap laptop which had a modem, ethernet and wireless. Before she left I installed Norton AV, ZoneAlarm and AdAware.

Wherever she went, even Vietnam, she was able to chat with us from Internet cafes. Not only that, but we were able to have four-way chats when I was at work and my son was in New York. A couple of these chats lasted over an hour, with no long distance charges.

We configure Instant Messenger to only allow connections with a specific list of family members. No one else can get in, and in five years, no one else has.

[Redcloak]

Don't listen to these people. Go ahead and start using the program. It's a great way to meet new people; though, it helps if you pretend to be an underage nymphomaniac. (Just answer "no" if anyone asks you any weird questions like "Do you work for the FBI?".)

[js1138]

There are at least two ways to use mesengers. You can be open to anyone who knows your email address, or you can limit contacts to a list. Mine is limited to family and one friend. I have absolutely no trouble.

[Duke Nukum]

I prefer Yahoo's chat client. Windows chat client came installed on my computer but I never use it and AOL installed so much crap, some of which I still haven't been able to get rid of completely that it left me completely disgusted.

[HAL9000]

Try Skype. It is a popular free Internet telephone system with a built-in instant messenger system.

It works with PCs, Macs and Linux, so you can communicate with everyone. Their free software has been downloaded nearly 100 million times so far.

[Michael Barnes]

Trillian

all client protocols, one nice neat package..

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Do a Google for XP Antispy. Then download it and run it (No install required).

It can configure your Windows XP to be very stealthy and secure...especially in areas where MS Messenger is concerned.