AOL Buddies Up with ICQ
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 by LiLmEgZ97 | Discussion: WinCustomize News
October 29th, 2002, 12:00 PM
In a surprise move, America Online on Monday took the first steps to enabling interoperability between its AOL client and ICQ in a refresh build of AOL 8.0 released to beta testers. Beta users can now add an ICQ number to their buddy lists, but messages cannot be exchanged until AOL releases a new version of ICQ, which will be available "in the near future."
BetaNews has learned that a beta build of AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 released last week sports similar functionality, but because the AIM server does not recognize the entries, ICQ users are automatically purged from the buddy list. Buddies with ICQ are listed with "-ICQ" appended to their number.
AOL purchased ICQ from Mirabilis in June 1998, but kept the service separate from its own AOL and AIM networks. Despite speculation that the company would allow for communication between the services, AOL remained steadfast that it had no such plans.
The decision for AOL to thus far not allow interoperability is strictly one of business, according to sources close to the company, as the limitation lies in the client itself - not the server architecture.
AOL's instant messaging platform has a modular design composed of tightly held libraries dubbed COOL Components. Each communication protocol utilized by AOL has its own component, including ICQ, which was ported to COOL shortly after the acquisition. COOL is also found in the latest Netscape releases.
In order to test COOL Components, AOL uses a specialized tool dubbed TestBuddy. TestBuddy resembles a slimmed-down version of AIM and has the capability to connect to each AOL-owned network. Apple's Rendezvous technology is also included in TestBuddy.
For a client to communicate with multiple networks, it must support the appropriate components. A version of AIM released in mid-2000 first showcased this technology by connecting to both ICQ and AOL, but could not send messages across networks. However, the news publicly raised questions about AOL's intentions in the IM space and subsequent AIM releases lacked ICQ support.
The latest beta releases of AOL and AIM contain the necessary libraries to interoperate within AOL's network, as will the next release of ICQ.
The move to connect its networks may be an attempt by AOL to consolidate its numbers after the shift in power that has occurred over the past two years. The once fledgling MSN and Yahoo! networks have garnered a considerable market share from AOL Instant Messenger, and ICQ has been struggling to maintain its user base. By merging AIM and ICQ, AOL will once again control a vast majority of the IM market.
AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! and numerous other groups have continued work on a universal IM standard for interoperability, but have yet to reach a consensus. Other companies such have Trillian have opted for client-side approach to interoperability and built in support for each chat network into a single application
In a surprise move, America Online on Monday took the first steps to enabling interoperability between its AOL client and ICQ in a refresh build of AOL 8.0 released to beta testers. Beta users can now add an ICQ number to their buddy lists, but messages cannot be exchanged until AOL releases a new version of ICQ, which will be available "in the near future."
BetaNews has learned that a beta build of AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 released last week sports similar functionality, but because the AIM server does not recognize the entries, ICQ users are automatically purged from the buddy list. Buddies with ICQ are listed with "-ICQ" appended to their number.
AOL purchased ICQ from Mirabilis in June 1998, but kept the service separate from its own AOL and AIM networks. Despite speculation that the company would allow for communication between the services, AOL remained steadfast that it had no such plans.
The decision for AOL to thus far not allow interoperability is strictly one of business, according to sources close to the company, as the limitation lies in the client itself - not the server architecture.
AOL's instant messaging platform has a modular design composed of tightly held libraries dubbed COOL Components. Each communication protocol utilized by AOL has its own component, including ICQ, which was ported to COOL shortly after the acquisition. COOL is also found in the latest Netscape releases.
In order to test COOL Components, AOL uses a specialized tool dubbed TestBuddy. TestBuddy resembles a slimmed-down version of AIM and has the capability to connect to each AOL-owned network. Apple's Rendezvous technology is also included in TestBuddy.
For a client to communicate with multiple networks, it must support the appropriate components. A version of AIM released in mid-2000 first showcased this technology by connecting to both ICQ and AOL, but could not send messages across networks. However, the news publicly raised questions about AOL's intentions in the IM space and subsequent AIM releases lacked ICQ support.
The latest beta releases of AOL and AIM contain the necessary libraries to interoperate within AOL's network, as will the next release of ICQ.
The move to connect its networks may be an attempt by AOL to consolidate its numbers after the shift in power that has occurred over the past two years. The once fledgling MSN and Yahoo! networks have garnered a considerable market share from AOL Instant Messenger, and ICQ has been struggling to maintain its user base. By merging AIM and ICQ, AOL will once again control a vast majority of the IM market.
AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo! and numerous other groups have continued work on a universal IM standard for interoperability, but have yet to reach a consensus. Other companies such have Trillian have opted for client-side approach to interoperability and built in support for each chat network into a single application
janep989
Reply #2 Thursday, October 31, 2002 4:38 PM
Reply #2 Thursday, October 31, 2002 4:38 PM
i am a beta tester for America on line 8 here in the united kingdom but i do not know what ICQ is ould some one plz enlighten me as i am quite new to this on line thing thanku 
st_nick
Reply #3 Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:13 PM
Reply #3 Thursday, October 31, 2002 10:13 PM
ummm isn't ICQ owned by AOL? They're just putting their toys together and claiming they play nice...nice try
Amerasu
Reply #4 Friday, November 1, 2002 2:48 PM
Reply #4 Friday, November 1, 2002 2:48 PM
Citizen janep989 - ICQ is an instant messaging program available at ICQ.com. It is also skinnable using a program called ICQplus which is available at icqplus.org I believe. It used to be made by a private company called Mirabilis. It is similar to AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and Microsoft Instant Messenger (MIM) but are not inter-operable by themselves.
There are other programs like Odigo (available at Odigo.com) which allow people to sign in to multiple instant messaging programs so that they can still communicate on AIM, MIM, and ICQ friends from one central program.
Hope this helps,
Ash
There are other programs like Odigo (available at Odigo.com) which allow people to sign in to multiple instant messaging programs so that they can still communicate on AIM, MIM, and ICQ friends from one central program.
Hope this helps,
Ash
LiLmEgZ97
Reply #5 Saturday, November 2, 2002 7:32 PM
Reply #5 Saturday, November 2, 2002 7:32 PM
YOUR ALL FULL OF FUCKING PARANOIA!! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD!!!!!
LiLmEgZ97
Reply #6 Saturday, November 2, 2002 11:00 PM
Reply #6 Saturday, November 2, 2002 11:00 PM
Trizub, who fucking cares if its plagarism? WE ALL DO IT ONCE IN OUR LIFETIMES!!!!! FAGGOT!
WolfwoodX
Reply #8 Sunday, November 3, 2002 2:25 PM
Reply #8 Sunday, November 3, 2002 2:25 PM
I wish aol would give people options to do things with there apps. 2 auto options that I have no controll over that bug the sh*t out of me:
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
- Intergrade AIM into Outlook/Express (aim 5.1)(MSN is guilty of this option too)
Then they need to work out Netscape:
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
- Pop up ads every 5 min.
- Install all componits even though you clearly unmarked them.
And finally, Winamp:
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
If they would fix little "problems", there software would be half desent to use..
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
- Intergrade AIM into Outlook/Express (aim 5.1)(MSN is guilty of this option too)
Then they need to work out Netscape:
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
- Pop up ads every 5 min.
- Install all componits even though you clearly unmarked them.
And finally, Winamp:
- Put "Buy AOL" icons and links all over your computer.
If they would fix little "problems", there software would be half desent to use..
Tryzub
Reply #9 Tuesday, November 5, 2002 11:32 AM
Reply #9 Tuesday, November 5, 2002 11:32 AM
ahem
*cough*
little
*cough*
kids
*cough*
on the net
*cough*
spanking
*cough*
little
*cough*
kids
*cough*
on the net
*cough*
spanking
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Reply #1 Thursday, October 31, 2002 3:23 PM
This article was written by Nate Mooks and can be found here:
http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=1035910803
Not saying Citizen LiLmEgZ97's is trying to take credit for the article, although the text above "October 29th, 2002, 12:00 PM" found at Betanews is missing from the text here. I'm just picking this article because I happen to have read it elsewhere first and would just appreciate, speaking as a member of the journalistic community, a little consideration for the original author. It's fine to help help out another site with news, just indicate when it's not your own work.
Cheers