AIM and ICQ users make up the bulk of IM users and now Microsoft is trying to butt in for a piece of the pie. No matter who wins in the end, IM is here to stay. It's so convenient that many people pass up email altogether in favor of an IM program. ICQ users, and those thinking converting to ICQ, will be interested to know that the latest version of ICQ is now available for download, and, although it's not incredibly different from the previous version, it does have improvements that will benefit users.
Beta is out with even more.
It's not a huge jump from 99a, but there are improvements. ICQ Active Lists are groups of ICQ users, ideally with similar interests, who communicate with each other on a broadcast basis. Sending a message to an Active List will broadcast the message to all members of the group, not separate individuals. All that's needed is the Active List Server software to create and manage Active Lists. You can search for them by going to the Services menu and selecting the ICQ Active List.