Word: immed
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...every day is judgment day, thanks to instant messaging and the in-your-face presence of its address book (the "buddy list") on computer desktops. The software offers real-time chat with friends, family or co-workers who are online, as most now seem to be. Instant messaging, or IM, in fact, handles more missives each day than the U.S. Postal Service. Besides relying on it to evaluate their popularity levels, teenagers use IM to swap homework tips and gossip; Internet start-ups employ it in lieu of a long-distance budget; home users love it for all those times...
...aren't better buddies. The AOL and Microsoft bosses have spent the past week in a mini-war over this hugely popular software, which analysts consider the second most valuable piece of digital real estate in the world, after the Windows desktop. Because AOL is the undisputed king of IM, Microsoft (along with a host of other IM providers) is trying to gain access to the 40 million folks using AOL's free IM software--and is occasionally succeeding. AOL, claiming concern for users' password protection, is trying to block its rivals' advances. Net result: a cat-and-mouse game...
That has users tearing out their hair. "This is one of those rare moments, like the birth of the Internet, when something can fundamentally change the way people communicate with each other," says Rob Enderle, an IM watcher at analysts Giga Information Group. "But there must be a standard for this technology to reach its potential. Otherwise, it's like you have to use two telephones...
...side looks paranoid, the other snooty. Neither is backing down. "Microsoft is using hacker tactics," says AOL vice president Barry Schuler. "This is what happens when they decide to own a market. It's shocking behavior." Microsoft's response: passwords are required only for access to AOL's IM server and aren't recorded by the software. "AOL just isn't educated on what our service does," says Microsoft Network product manager Rob Bennett...
...emerged looking like the greater villain last week, largely because it had earlier made public some of the source code for its IM software. Open-source proponents, who believe all code should be freely available, couldn't understand why AOL would then turn around and stomp on a rival's attempt to emulate it--even Microsoft's. "This is about money and control," says Bill Kirkner, chief technology officer at Prodigy and an open-source supporter. "AOL saw someone else was building a better mousetrap and didn't like...