tech review – AIM 7.0

Windows 7 will have to wait (it’s not installed on this poor 32-bit system yet). Additionally, the despicable Apple advertisements have been disgusting lately. I’m not buying into the Microsoft-bashing model that Mac lovers seem to adore. I haven’t had the chance to run a clean install, but all of this will change as soon as I back-up my precious files on a homemade external harddrive within the next few weeks. THEN, my dear readers, you will get an adequate Windows 7 review.

With a writing hiatus comes many changes. One of the most notable changes includes the notorious beta release of AIM 7.0. This will most likely not be a very thorough review. The noticeable differences relate to aesthetic preferences moreso than actual functionality:

- A larger Twitteresque phrase bubble replaces the single line previously offered for status updates, and in lieu of current thoughts,  users can elect to make this their current away message instead.

-Color themes have been added and relegated to the top of AIM’s main program bar (if that’s what it’s even called – hey, this review is from the perspective of an average user. I can omit unfamiliar jargon).

-Buddy icons are huge. Really. They used to be small, convenient and nearly out-of-sight 50×50 pixel images. Now, they’re glaring and on the left side of the IM message box.I had to replace the icon of my face because I became overly aware of it while typing to friends and co-workers alike. Very distracting while working in a place that is driven by AIM to communicate.

-Tabbed IMs. The tab is on top of a single IM box. A green exclamation indicates that a new message was received. Small Skype-like icons are featured beneath the icons. There is no ‘enter’ or ‘submit’ button, but a texting feature on the left to where one types a message. The emoticon and font customizing features appear less as a horizontally placed word processing feature and have slid to the right of the messaging area, also displayed as more streamline icons.

-There is a small white envelope next to the screenname label, but I have never used AIM to check my e-mail. This blogger is not about to start either, just for the sake of this post. Do you use AIM as your primary e-mail client? Didn’t think so.

Lifestream is an interesting concept that was offered in a pre-release beta version. I felt lukewarm about it then, and its temperature has maintained its tepid quality since. Its features cater to the social networking fiend and allows users to connect a limited number of common accounts (like Digg, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, and Facebook) to their screenname; in doing so, users also sync in to their contacts’ updates on those websites. Similar to Facebook notifications, a little red square with a number highlighting any updates flags users to a separate tab from the buddy list. The “Me” tab serves only to frustrate and fan a self-interested ego. For instance, it lists the number of buddy lists you are added to, but will not reveal those screenname identities for your perusal. There is a subsection called ‘My Notifications’, but I haven’t seen one. I think I turned that feature off to avoid being annoyed by shaky Internet connections and auto-reconnecting AIM clients.
Overall, I can understand AOL’s view. They were the kings of the Internet, dominating the dial-up minions, but perhaps fading away as faster options have become the status quo. AIM is their last free connection to the public and they had to advance their product to keep our ever-dwindling attention span focused on them. We have so many options these days – Skype, Facebook chat, TokBox, Motion Box, etc. They are competing against some staunch competition and want to be associated with popular websites that draw millions, perhaps billions, of worldwide users monthly. However, their eagerness to expand their audience has only restricted their peripheral vision, in a sense…

Well, in two beloved aspects:

1) Plugins. Where did they go? How do I get them back? Some people would argue that the plugins really served a small population of AIM users. I would agree. There weren’t that many (nowhere near the amount of add-ons and widgets made for Firefox, at any rate) and the ones that were available weren’t that great. Plus, the commonly used social networking sites available with Lifestream adequately replaces it without the irritation of initial sign-in pop-ups. Yet, I liked being able to spy on the songs my friends were listening to – many conversations and recommendations stemmed from that relatively small plugin. I hope they add Last.fm or Pandora to Lifestream soon. Either choice would be an incredible addition.

2) Privacy settings. Yes, I want to block spambots. Yes, I want to block a few creeps from my youth who won’t leave me alone (even after not having any contact after all of these years). Yes, I want to limit my visibility to those who I have on my buddy list (just to be safe!) and to keep my screenname private from the wider Internet public (I have a public one that I will gladly converse with you on). But, what would really help me sort through all of those layers of restricted individuals would be privacy lists, similar to Facebook. Let me create privacy settings, or set the invisibility feature to only selected groups of people on my buddy list while I’m online. For instance, I horrendously made the mistake of using my personal screenname as my work ID. I would prefer to “hide” my online presence if I choose to remain online after leaving my place of employment.

Aside from these two exclusions, I like the new AIM a lot, enough to recommend to others. It’s sleek. It runs smoothly. The ability to have tabbed IMs without having to use an outside client is nice. There is less clutter and less error messages. The layout of AIM 7.0 overall is adaptable and intuitive. I will not be uninstalling it any time soon.