Chat and instant messgaing

Chat and Instant messaging


Instant Messaging or IM allows you to interact with other users in real time. Usually it occurs between 2 people rather than chat rooms which allow groups of people to talk to eachother. Thus making it more private. Instant Messaging has advanced quickly in the past couple of years, it used to just involve text exchange people two people. However now it allows users to share images, files and other forms of media. A popular example of this is MSN Messenger.  




Windows live Messenger 


Windows Live Messenger is a great way to chat, play games, or share photos and much more quickly and easily. It not only includes a completely new look and feel, but it’s also designed to let you customize it and make it suit you. There are other many great features in Windows Live Messenger and I am going to explore some of the best ones.


Features

With the new, intuitive user interface in Windows Live Messenger, users can share their music, documents, photos and other files with family, friends and colleagues on their Messenger contact list. Any changes made to the files are synchronized with the other user’s folder using peer-to-peer sharing, this allows both you and the receiver to get a up to date copy of the file you have sent them. If this sharing process takes place when the receiver is offline then they will see the file displayed and updated the next time they log in.

This helps people connect and communicate differently with contacts other than just talking to each other. Sharing photo's, videos and documents helps users interact and share experiences with their contacts without the need to leave their homes. The sharing folders feature is simple and easy to use with just a click of a button you can explore your contacts experiences and have a closer and more memorable chat experience. 

Voice Calling and Video Calling


This feature will let users who sign up for Windows Live phone call (provided by a Microsoft partner) to easily call landline and mobile phones. You will be able to set up a Windows Live Call account through the Messenger interface and start making calls to your contacts. You will be able to purchase minutes upfront, and then add minutes when your balance runs low. A benefit of this feature is that you will be able to make very cheap home, mobile and international calls. This enables parents who are on business trips abroad to contact family and friends cheaply without added costing from mobile phone providers who charge high prices. You will be able to make calls to users who also have Windows Live Messenger for free; this is similar to what Skype offer their customers. This quick and easy setup means there is no need to sign up for a Windows Live phone call account, so long as you and your Messenger contacts have compatible speakers, microphones or headsets.

Integration with Social Networking

Windows Live messenger has incorporated social networking into you messenger experience. Due to social networking sites becoming so popular, windows has decided to reduce window clutter and integrate social networking into its messenger. Today we use a variety of social networks and content sharing sites with numerous sets of friends and family throughout a number of different networks. This can be challenging and exhausting to visit different websites and create different accounts just to keep abreast of your friends’ updates. Windows live offers users a way of using windows live messenger with all your favorite social networking sites at the same time. Facebook for example is easily setup on Windows live messenger, and you can synchronies your information on Facebook with that of Messenger. 

Other Features

Contact Search

Contact search allows users to search by typing in the name of the person they are trying to find in the contact list. Search options are displayed after every letter so more often than not you can find your contact without typing in their full name. This saves a lot of time and the search feature then takes them directly to that contact.

Yahoo Messenger

Yahoo messenger is another popular Chat and IM service that is very similar to MSN. Yahoo Messenger is an all-in-one communication tool, and anyone, anywhere in the world, with a computer and Internet connection can use it. It allows its users to communicate in many different ways to other users.

Features of Yahoo Messenger- 

SMS on Yahoo Messenger 

The SMS feature lets you send text messages to your contacts mobile phones right from Yahoo Messenger. Just type in a friend's mobile phone number, write your message like you would a regular instant message, then hit Send on the Yahoo messenger window. Your friend will receive your text message on their phone, and their replies come back to you in Yahoo! Messenger. This is handy if your friend is away from home and you need to have an important discussion about something. It also means that you can stay in touch with them anytime, and prevents the annoying scenario of not being able to get in touch with someone. It's free to send SMS messages from Yahoo Messenger to your friends and to receive their replies. However, your friends may have to pay for data charges from their mobile carrier for receiving and replying to your messages.

Stealth and Privacy Settings

Stealth settings are a new feature on Yahoo Messenger and provide you with more control over your time on the Messenger. This is done by allowing you to choose which friends see you as online or offline.

If you want to sign in but not let your friends know you're online, select the "Sign in as Invisible" option at log in. Once you're signed in, you can see which of your friends are online but they can't see you. You can still send and receive messages, even if you appear offline. This is useful if you don’t want someone to know you are online but you still want to talk to your close friends and family.

To appear online to some friends but offline to others, use individual stealth settings to designate which friends should see you online. You can access individual stealth settings by right clicking on a friend in your contact list. You can also appear invisible to an entire group. These setting allow you to escape from people who you are not in the mood to talk to.

Instant Messaging is a fun and timely way to connect with the people you know and trust. But sometimes, those outside your trusted friends and family may try to contact you and start a conversation. If you receive an unwanted message from someone, you can click the "Ignore/Add to Ignore List" button in your IM window to permanently block his or her messages. This prevents arguments and helps stop cyber bulling. This is a unique feature to Yahoo Mail and I believe it is a very good way to stop verbal abuse through chat and instant messaging. At that time you will also have the option of reporting the message as spam. The user you're blocking will not know that you have chosen to ignore their messages, to prevent them holding grudges or sparking further animosity towards you or vice versa.

New ways to sort your contacts

Yahoo Messenger has now added a couple new ways to organize your contact list.  The First is by recent activity which will list your friends with the most recent updates at the top of your list. This is useful if you have already read older updates and want to see new updates that you havent already read first. It also saves users time scrolling down to find the latest updates.  Yahoo Messenger has also added the ability to sort by availability, so if you usually show all contacts in your list whether they’re online or not, this will help bring the online friends to the top of that list. Sort options are located in the drop down menu on the right side of the “Contacts” tab.

Chat Room Feature

Chat rooms are a great place to meet and communicate with friends who share your interests. You'll find chat rooms for a world of topics from entertainment to sports, to politics and pop culture. You can customise the chat rooms and your individual chats with emoticons, custom fonts and even voice.

Buzz Feature 

The Buzz feature is the exclamation point, located right next to the text icon on the mini-toolbar. This feature basically allows you to inform or alert the other person by shaking the message box and making a buzzing noise. This is a helpful feature to use if the other person forgets to respond for some reason or another and you want to get their attention right away.