AIM 6 Debuts, Adds Social Networking

AOL on Wednesday released the final version of AIM 6, the company's latest instant messaging client that includes a number of long-requested features such as offline messages and message logging. AOL has also integrated its AIM Pages social network site into the software.

AOL has returned to number-based versioning after launching AIM Triton last year. AIM 6 is the next iteration of Triton, which was named to emphasize that it was a completely new instant messaging platform rewritten from the ground up, but caused some confusion among AIM users.

Ann Santorios, Director of Product Management for AIM, told BetaNews in an interview this week that Triton was intentionally released on a limited basis, and users of AIM 5.9 were not prompted to upgrade. "We wanted to get feedback and see if we got it right," she said.

With AIM 6, that has changed. Both AIM Triton and version 5.9 will no longer be offered by AOL, and the company plans proactive promotion of AIM 6 for current 5.9 users who have yet to make the upgrade to the new platform.

In order to encourage adoption of the new client, AOL has worked in a number of improvements. Window buttons, menu items and even the color schemes used by the software have been reworked. AOL has removed Triton's "IM Catcher" feature and replaced it with an Away Status window and an Unknown Sender's curtain.

AIM now supports up to 1000 buddies, ensuring nobody will hit a limit while accumulating friends and contacts.

The Away Status window shows up when set as "away" and lets users disable sounds and pop-up notifications. Unlike previous versions of the client, users can remain away and still send messages to buddies. The Unknown Sender dialog catches messages from those not on a user's list, and can be used to report IM spam.

Offline messages, a feature long offered by Yahoo and AOL's own ICQ service, are a new addition to AIM 6. Messages sent to a buddy who is not connected will appear when they next sign online, accompanied by a System Message that lets the recipient disable the feature if desired. AOL has restricted the functionality to reduce abuse, however, and users can only send and/or receive 40 offline messages in 24 hours.

Message logging, which has long been offered by IM rivals Microsoft and Yahoo, previously appeared in beta versions of AIM Triton and has surfaced once again. This opt-in feature stores logs of chats on the PC, which can be accessed from the Actions menu at the bottom of the AIM 6 buddy list. AOL emphasizes this feature is not turned on by default for privacy reasons.

AOL's Santorios said she wasn't sure why the company waited so long to introduce these features, but said the number-one requested feature from users was offline instant messages followed by logging functionality.

The AIM Today window, which appears when a user signs into the network, has been completely revamped to focus more on the individual user and less on news about Paris Hilton, Santorios quipped. It will display the Buddy Info for the user's buddies, a BuddyBlog for updates on the AIM service, as well as access to multiple e-mail accounts, including those from Google and Yahoo.

AIM Today will additionally feature a customizable dashboard that links into AIM Pages, AOL's new social networking site -- still in beta -- that the company hopes can compete with the likes of MySpace. In order to encourage usage of the site, all AIM users will automatically have an AIM Page, which can be accessed directly from the AIM 6 client.

"This next beta is about now making this profile experience available to your average users," said Santorios. A new "quick" edit mode lets users populate their page with relative ease, and a user's friends list will be filled with their current AIM buddies.

Whenever a user updates their AIM Page, his or her buddies will be notified with an icon next to their name in the AIM Buddy List. "We're connecting the dots between AIM Pages and AIM," she added. Microsoft offers a similar feature for Windows Live Messenger and its Live Spaces social networking site.

Although many features appearing in AIM 6, such as logging and offline messages, have long been offered in rival clients, AOL is confident that it has raised its game to better compete. The company notes that AIM is still the largest IM network with 42.9 million unique users each month. Its closest competitor is Windows Live Messenger with 23.3 million users.

Although Santorios wouldn't provide a specific timeframe, she said AOL was actively working with Google on integrating the AIM network with Google Talk - an effort announced early this year as part of the search giant's $1 billion investment in AOL. "We hope to give you some news by the end of the year," she said, noting that AOL was working to link up AIM with Userplane as well.

AIM 6.0 is available for download now from FileForum. The new client works on Windows 2000 and above, including Windows Vista. Current AIM users will receive upgrade notifications in mid-December.