imo instant messenger
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Using a Web-based instant messenger makes sense when you can’t download or install an IM client. But, too often, Web-based IM services force you to sacrifice the features you know and love for the sake of convenience. Not so with imo instant messenger. This free Web-based service offers most of what you expect from your desktop IM client, and even throws in a few extras–no installation required.
Imo supports AIM/ICQ, Facebook, Google Talk, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo. You can choose to link your accounts, so that you sign into all of them at the same time with just one login. Once you sign in, imo displays a list of your contacts on the right side of the screen, with a puny icon indicating which service they are using. You can switch your pals’ aliases if you’d like to identify them more lightly, but you can’t merge contacts. This is unfortunate, as many of my AIM friends also are my Skype contacts and my Facebook friends. If I could merge them, I could clean up my unwieldy contact list, and make a swifter decision on how to contact them.
You can choose inbetween a window view, where fresh conversations are shown in traditional, IM-like boxes on imo’s main screen, or a tabbed view, where conversations are organized into different tabs. The window view works well if you’re managing only one or two conversations, but can be overrun if you’re talking with more folks. That’s when switching to the tabbed view (which can be done by clicking an icon) makes sense.
I like that you can set imo to save your talk history, as too many clients make it effortless to delete valuable information when you close a talk window too quickly. You can save these indefinitely, and can delete individual conversations if desired.I also like how effortless it is to send voice IMs. If you want to send a voice message, you can record one that’s up to thirty seconds long and send it to any of your contacts. Imo says the messages are playable on most clients, and my AIM contact was able to receive it without a problem.
You can conduct a voice or movie talks with any of your contacts, no matter what IM service they use, as long as they have speakers, a microphone (or a headset), and a Webcam. If their IM service doesn’t support voice or movie talk, imo sends a link to an HTML-based voice/movie talk window that doesn’t require a login. You can send files to, and receive them from, other imo users; you can also send them to non-imo users, but can’t receive them.
Imo has slew of useful features, but it’s not without flaws. In my tests, I sometimes experienced network outages that left me incapable to talk, albeit shortly. I also noticed that the service didn’t display pics for all of my contacts. It displayed Facebook profile pictures for only about a quarter of my contacts, but not for the rest of them. These issues are minor, and are not enough to detract from Imo’s appeal.
Note: To use this service, you must go after the link and open it in a Flash- and Javascript-enabled browser.
Imo instant messenger, PCWorld
imo instant messenger
Your message has been sent.
There was an error emailing this page.
Using a Web-based instant messenger makes sense when you can’t download or install an IM client. But, too often, Web-based IM services force you to sacrifice the features you know and love for the sake of convenience. Not so with imo instant messenger. This free Web-based service offers most of what you expect from your desktop IM client, and even throws in a few extras–no installation required.
Imo supports AIM/ICQ, Facebook, Google Talk, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo. You can choose to link your accounts, so that you sign into all of them at the same time with just one login. Once you sign in, imo displays a list of your contacts on the right side of the screen, with a petite icon indicating which service they are using. You can switch your pals’ aliases if you’d like to identify them more lightly, but you can’t merge contacts. This is unfortunate, as many of my AIM friends also are my Skype contacts and my Facebook friends. If I could merge them, I could clean up my unwieldy contact list, and make a quicker decision on how to contact them.
You can choose inbetween a window view, where fresh conversations are shown in traditional, IM-like boxes on imo’s main screen, or a tabbed view, where conversations are organized into different tabs. The window view works well if you’re managing only one or two conversations, but can be overrun if you’re talking with more folks. That’s when switching to the tabbed view (which can be done by clicking an icon) makes sense.
I like that you can set imo to save your talk history, as too many clients make it effortless to delete valuable information when you close a talk window too quickly. You can save these indefinitely, and can delete individual conversations if desired.I also like how effortless it is to send voice IMs. If you want to send a voice message, you can record one that’s up to thirty seconds long and send it to any of your contacts. Imo says the messages are playable on most clients, and my AIM contact was able to receive it without a problem.
You can conduct a voice or movie talks with any of your contacts, no matter what IM service they use, as long as they have speakers, a microphone (or a headset), and a Webcam. If their IM service doesn’t support voice or movie talk, imo sends a link to an HTML-based voice/movie talk window that doesn’t require a login. You can send files to, and receive them from, other imo users; you can also send them to non-imo users, but can’t receive them.
Imo has slew of useful features, but it’s not without flaws. In my tests, I at times experienced network outages that left me incapable to talk, albeit shortly. I also noticed that the service didn’t display photos for all of my contacts. It displayed Facebook profile pictures for only about a quarter of my contacts, but not for the rest of them. These issues are minor, and are not enough to detract from Imo’s appeal.
Note: To use this service, you must go after the link and open it in a Flash- and Javascript-enabled browser.