Finally, a Peek Over the Barriers Between IM Networks

A couple of weeks ago, one of the longest-running problems of the Internet began to get better.

No, nobody's found a cure for spam or viruses or those animated ads that temporarily flood browser windows. But we're now closer to being able to chat via instant messaging with anybody -- not just people using the same network.

That development should not count as news. With most other kinds of communication -- phone calls, e-mail or cellphone text messages -- the ability to contact somebody who uses a different provider than you isn't considered a feature worth advertising.

Instant messaging, however, has remained stubbornly proprietary. The operators of the three major commercial networks -- AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo -- have kept their systems closed off from each other.

Earlier this month, however, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. updated their software to allow people on one network to chat with people on another. One person can log into Microsoft's software, the other into Yahoo's, and both can chatter away as if they were on the same network.

This shouldn't-be-a-feature feature comes up short in a few significant ways -- the most important one being that these companies aren't using an open standard that any other network could tap into as well. But it's still a welcome accomplishment after years of unfulfilled pledges of improvements in IM compatibility.

The most confusing part of Yahoo and Microsoft's initiative may be the need to use the latest versions of each other's software. Unless both parties to a cross-network chat run either Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger ( http://messenger.live.com/ ; Windows XP only) or Yahoo Messenger With Voice ( http://messenger.yahoo.com/ ; Windows 98 or newer, Mac OS X 10.3 or newer), the whole thing falls apart. If only one person has the right software, there isn't any notice that things won't work; the person with the older version will just appear perpetually offline.

The Microsoft program is still in beta status, while Yahoo's ended its testing period on Thursday. Both worked without any problems on a handful of laptops last week. (Unfortunately, both program's installers are as pushy as ever about adding browser toolbars, loading extra start-up software, and changing your home-page and Web-search preferences; choose custom-install to opt out of those intrusions.)

In either program, adding somebody on the other company's network requires typing an e-mail address instead of just a user name. (Yahoo also requires you to specify the user's IM network.) The other person will get the usual "do you want to be on this user's contacts list" invitation; when he or she replies affirmatively, that individual's name will show up in your buddy list alongside people on your network.

At least, it usually will: For a day or two last week, a copy of the Microsoft Live Messenger software reported a Yahoo contact as offline, even though the Yahoo user was online and active -- and his software correctly reported the Microsoft user's online status. Yahoo notes that the interoperability feature is still in testing for both companies and may be unavailable to some users.

In practice, cross-network chats evoke the dawn of instant messaging. Almost none of the features that have been added to IM over the past decade works in this new environment: You can't use a custom icon, photo or animation; set up a group chat; send a file; stage a voice or video conference; or even format your text with colors, fonts or background colors.

All you have are words and a set of emoticons. Your online state -- away, busy, idle and so on -- also shows up accurately, as does any personalized status message you want to add. ("I'm pretending to work now.") In addition, you can see when the other person is typing and can try to grab his or her attention by causing the IM window to shake abruptly -- called a "nudge" by Microsoft and a "buzz" by Yahoo.

If, like me, you don't use any fancy multimedia options in your routine IMing, the limited capabilities of Microsoft and Yahoo's initiative don't constitute any actual problem. Microsoft and Yahoo plan to improve the capabilities offered through this new connectivity, but it may take a while; voice-chat support is on the agenda, but without a public timetable.

In the meantime, if you've had to keep an account on both Microsoft and Yahoo to stay in touch with friends on each service, you're now free to dump one in favor of the other for whatever reason you see fit -- features, user interface, compatibility, the parent company's good-to-evil ratio, whatever.

And when the developers of such third-party IM applications as Gaim, Trillian or Adium X inevitably build in support for the new Yahoo-Microsoft connectivity, your choice will be broader still. Those programs can already sign you into multiple IM networks at once; soon, possibly by the end of this summer, you won't need to sign into as many to stay in touch with all your contacts.

But what if your IM home remains AOL's AIM system -- the most deeply rooted IM network?

AOL is no longer reflexively hostile to letting outsiders hook into its system, having stopped trying to block AIM-compatible third-party software. But the company has only tiptoed toward interoperability, opening its network strictly to far smaller competitors. For instance, users of Apple's .Mac service have been able to tie into AIM since 2002, and AOL says that by the end of the year, the Google Talk network will also connect to AIM.

That state of affairs will set up the IM market for an interesting, novel experiment. AOL's rivals have gotten only so far with trying to beat AIM on features, but what about openness and compatibility -- areas that AOL may not be willing to contest? We all get to cast a vote on that. It's called competition, and it's been sorely absent in instant messaging.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrob@twp.com.