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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
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    5,065

    Whose right... me or him? Trying to settling a fight...

    I have a friend who uses msn messenger. His attorney uses AIM with an aol email address.

    My friend needs to communicate with his attorney via chat and keeps trying to add his attorney's aol contact to his msn messneger to try to chat with him.

    My friend keep trying to make it work and says it WILL work even though he keeps failing to make it work. I keep telling him that msn messenger does NOT support AOL and he is arguing with me saying I am wrong and that he "already has an AOL contact on his msn messenger". Am I correct?

    I googled this and it appears that I am correct and HE is wrong? Just making sure...

    PS- How's it possible that has has an AOL contact on his msn messnger if AOL is not supported?


  2. #2
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    As far as I am aware an AIM username/password will not work with MSN. However you can register an @aol.com email address and use that with MSN Messenger. That is probably what is confusing him.
    Steve

  3. #3
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    Vortex-Steve,

    His attorney uses AIM and chats with that program. My friend uses MSN messenger and is trying to add his attorney's AOL email address to his contact so that he can chat with his attorney.

    So since the attorney uses AIM and my friend using MSN program... they can't chat, right?

    Or wait a second... if you can add an AOL email address contact into your msn messenger... why wouldn't they be able to chat?

    Argghh getting confused here.

  4. #4
    The aol addy is just a username, AIM and MSN DO NOT communicate with eachother.
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  5. #5
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    Aug 2001
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    I see thanks, so I was correct in thinking that it would not work.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frosty View Post
    I see thanks, so I was correct in thinking that it would not work.
    The only two main IM products that work together (officially) are yahoo! and M$.

    Of course, you can get around the connectivity issues by using third party programs... something like trillian (sp?) comes to mind...

    Edit: of course, gmail supports some type of open source format, if I'm not mistaken...
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  7. #7
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    Trillian doesn't interconnect MSN and AIM, it only facilitates using one interface for both (among others).
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    63
    Sounds to me like your friend is a little mixed up.

    Windows Live Messenger only has direct interconnectivity with Yahoo Messenger at the moment.

    What he may have is someone signed up on an MSN Passport / Live ID using their AOL address ...

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  9. #9
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    To clear the air:

    1. Windows Live Messenger uses the Microsoft Passport service. You can register any email address with Microosft Passport, and use it as a login for Messenger.

    2. You can only add Yahoo messenger buddies to Windows Live Messenger to chat with them.

    Anything else is people confusing the issue.

  10. #10
    You can no t get in touch with AOL/AIM users through Windows Messenger.

    Windows Messenger runs on the .NET Messenger network. The only way you're going to be able to talk to these contacts is if they sign up for a .NET Passport, then download and sign in using either Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger or some other client that supports the .NET Messenger network (like Trillian).

  11. #11
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    I think GAIM also supports it aswell.
    -- Adam

  12. #12
    Yes you could use GAIM - it combines almost all the chat programs out there, or at least the major ones: MSN, AIM, ICQ.....
    Brendan Skoreyko
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  13. #13
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    Aug 2001
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    Thanks for the responses.

    I had never heard of GAIM before. I use trillian which also supports a lot of messengers out there.
    I'm going to download this GAIM for fun and test it out...

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    As others have pointed out, the current contact he has with an AOL address is probably one linked to a .NET passport.

    But there was a time when MSN(and other IMs) could connect to AOL. As part of the Time Warner takeover, AOL was forced to open up it's IM protocol and allow interoperability by the FTC. But then AOL decided to lock out the other players anyways...

    From windowsitpro.com/articles/print.cfm?articleid=26010
    AOL's agreement with the FTC stipulated that the company open up the AIM network to MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and other competitors, allowing users of these widely used but incompatible networks to exchange text messages, files, and other data with AIM users. The agreement came after AOL's competitors, including Microsoft, complained to the FTC, stating that the AOL Time Warner merger shouldn't be approved until AOL opened up AIM. Before the complaint, Microsoft had worked to let MSN Messenger users access AIM's user base, but AOL shut out Microsoft several times.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frosty View Post
    Thanks for the responses.

    I had never heard of GAIM before. I use trillian which also supports a lot of messengers out there.
    I'm going to download this GAIM for fun and test it out...
    GAIM is mainly used on linux systems.
    -- Adam

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
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    1,025
    Quote Originally Posted by hekwu View Post
    ...of course, gmail supports some type of open source format, if I'm not mistaken...
    Googlechat/Gmail uses Jabber and you can set that up with any messenger that supports Jabber (mainly GAIM or what is now known as Pidgin.)


    Quote Originally Posted by a-hancock View Post
    GAIM is mainly used on linux systems.
    True, but their is a windows version that works quite well.
    Matt Armour
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  17. #17
    I know this is wierd, but I've had people using yahoo, AOL, GAIM, Gmail, sympatico, sasktel, rogers, etc. add me to MSN. I cant figure it out because none of them will let me add an MSN email, and MSN wont let me add any of the above emails, yet I've seen it at work. Maybe a third-party IM is doing this.

  18. #18
    If you Google it apparently it is now possible.... if you can't find it in Google than your doing something wrong! MSN Messenger like 3rd line in it says:
    Connect with your friends on Yahoo!

    With the new Windows LiveTM Messenger, now you can talk to your contacts on Yahoo! Just add their e-mail addresses (like all your other Messenger contacts)

    THANKS AND HOPE THAT HELPS.
    Brendan Skoreyko
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