CommunICQate (mirabilis.com)

Member Name: Modena

Product:	mirabilis.com
Date:	04/07/01 (265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superior to MSN etc, though not as functional in some respects. Free SMS, organizer.

Disadvantages: Not much use if you have no friends who use it, spam, plug-ins required for some functions. Doubts about security (get a firewall!) Size matters!

For those of you who don’t know ICQ (I Seek You) is an integrated internet communications package, on the lines of Yahoo/MSN/AOL messenger, but this one is slightly different. It’s a 6 or 7 meg download (size matters) from www.icq.com or the usual download sites like download.com and tucows.com. Signing up is easy, just install it and start the programme (reboot needed for ICQ 2000), and it’s obviously 100% free.

<Basic Functions>
The functions of ICQ are basically the same as Yahoo/MSN/AOL messenger but given a choice of only one, ICQ is miles better. Like MSN etc, you develop a list of friends, and you know if they are on-line or offline, you can classify them, (but I doubt anyone bothers). You can send messages to them, have live DCC (i.e. servers are skipped) chats with them, (even have more than 2 people in a private chat, just like the alternatives mentioned). There are lots of modes to suit how you wish to chat (like with or without the chat history) and the benefits are that you can send offline messages to anyone. Everything you do is logged into your ICQ database (on your hard drive), which you can obviously delete.

<Extras>
Plug in baby
You can download plugins for ICQ, like telephone friends and videoconference them, but I have never tired these. You can also play games, but again I have never tired these. To get started you don’t need any plugins, in fact the only one I have downloaded is the message archive one.

Database (Plug-in needed for advanced functions)
Everything you do is logged into your ICQ database (on your hard drive), which you can obviously delete. This is a valuable feature because not only are your actions/chats recorded, you can save contact details and even use it as a personal organizer. It even tells you when your friend’s birthday is due (you can choose to be informed N days in advance), so save your lover’s/partner’s birthdate here!


ICQ-Mail (Plug-in may be needed)
When something arrives at your ICQ mailbox, you are automatically notified, this is standard for all these messenger programmes. There’s also the “pager-express” which allows somebody to message your ICQ with their email by sending a message to something like XXXXXXXX@pager.icq.com, where XXXXXXXX is your ICQ UIN (Unique ID number).

SMS (No plug-in needed)
Another benefit is the SMS function, you can save details of your friends (including mobile number of course) and SMS them by clicking their name, then SMS, the SMS service is one of the best I have used, you sometimes (but not always) get confirmation that your friend has received the message.

WHASSSSSSUP? (No plug-in needed)
You can record short voice messages (in .wav format) to your online friends, this works fine, though using something like Musicmatch and sending the file to them is far more elegant.

Send files (No plug-in needed)
Obviously, you can send files too, the benefits are that you can resume files and if your friend is offline and you plan to stay online, then you can auto send to him or her. An important feature here is to allow some friend to auto accept files if you are frequently away from your connected PC, for the friends you don’t trust (because of viruses etc) they will just have to wait for you to be present. As far as I know, there are no limits to file sizes.

Find friends (No plug-in needed)
Just enter information in some fields to find your chums, it’s very efficient, but best of you have their ICQ UIN. You can also enter a friend’s email, and if he/she signs up, you will be notified.

Find random chat partner (No plug-in needed)
If you are bored, then click this, I have never tried this, who knows who’s on the other side, stick with your colleagues on ICQ is my advice.

<Adverts?>
It takes little space on your screen and ther
e are no adverts, (though in message windows they have recently appeared, but there is a way to get around this I have heard). There is spam on ICQ, but very little, every month or so, you will get somebody sending you sex ads, and threats of discontinuing the service, etc. (no Viruses yet, I’ve been a member since 1998)

<Reliability?>
Connections are reliable, but not as faultless as MSN/Yahoo. Sometimes the message send stalls (but often it does get sent, if it don't then that's when U don't like it and wishesd they were on IRC or something). Sometimes you find yourself disconnected for a few seconds and sometimes logging on is a little difficult (like MSN). THe network is up 99% of the time.

<Security?>
It’s a fully customiseable programme, play with security settings, for example not letting people know you are online and only establish direct cable connections (which are potentially harmful) with friends. I think your details (how much you submit is up to you) are on the ICQ database, which anybody can search. Obviously you can choose the password settings and I have known some people to run several accounts on one PC, so sharing is fine. Some users doubt the flexibility though.

Some people say that ICQ lets you open to be hacked, personally I disagree because ICQ does not display your IP, it used to, but either way, it should be okay if you have a good firewall programme.

Security amongst family members may be improved by not letting it save your password etc, but logs etc will be easily read by your family (or whoever you share your PC with). One ICQ (on one PC) can have many users.

<Warning>
One thing to note is that if you wish to use it on another PC, you need to rebuild the database details, i.e. your friend’s list will be empty, but you can save the database and export it easily, the good thing about this is that all your details are stored on your PC. Unlike
MSN etc, where you have full functionality with any PC.

I’m not too sure what the whingers whinge about with respect to ICQ, some complain that the new versions have too many functions, I think they are a real bonus, like the SMS; heaven knows what they will do when Britain finally has 3G mobile services. Some don’t think it works, I think it’s fine, I have not experienced bugs.

<Overall>
It is far more tidy, sophisticated and solid than the standard messenger programmes. It feels more like a central nervous system. However, if you currently use MSN etc and you are happy with that, then don’t change, you really need your friends to use this to reap the benefits. However, if you and your friends are not using anything, but want to keep in touch and send WHASSSSSSSSSSSSSSUP? Messages to each other, then you can do a lot worse than ICQ.

Summary: