AIM- is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997. Stand-alone official AIM client software inclavailable for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Linux. The software, maintained by udes advertisements and is AOL, LLC, has a large share of the instant messaging market, especially in the United States (with 52% of the total reported as of 2006).<sup>[1]

reaction:</sup>AIM is different from other clients such as Yahoo Messenger in that it does not require approval from one buddy to be added to another's buddy list. As a result, it is possible for users to keep other unsuspecting users on their buddy list to see when they are online, read their status and away messages, and read their profiles. However, one can block another user from communicating and also enhance privacy by selecting a menu option allowing communication only with those on one's buddy list.

EBuddy-started the world's first, independent, web browser-based instant messaging service in 2003 as e-Messenger (www.e-messenger.net). The company was rebranded in 2006 from e-Messenger to eBuddy.

Now, eBuddy enables millions of people to chat with buddies on Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, MySpace IM and Facebook using one interface. Millions of monthly users also access eBuddy on their mobile phone, independent of carrier or device.

eBuddy is a privately-held company backed by Prime Technology Ventures and Lowland Capital Partners. The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and has offices in London and San Francisco.

eBuddy started the world's first, independent, web browser-based instant messaging service in 2003 as e-Messenger (www.e-messenger.net). The company was rebranded in 2006 from e-Messenger to eBuddy.

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)- is an open, XML-inspired protocol originally aimed at near-real-time, extensible instant messaging (IM) and presence information (e.g. buddy lists), but now expanded into the broader realm of message oriented middleware.^[1] It remains the core protocol of the Jabber Instant Messaging and Presence technology. Built to be extensible, the protocol has accumulated features over time such as Voice over IP and file transfer signaling.

Unlike most instant messaging protocols, XMPP is an open standard. Like e-mail, it is an open system where anyone who has a domain name and a suitable Internet connection can run his own Jabber server and talk to users on other servers. The standard server implementations and many clients are also free and open source software.