That was just 5 years after the Internet was originated when a small group of Israelis recognized a necessity of connecting people from different parts of the world in a real time – so ICQ, the first on-line messenger, was created. That was an impact for the further development of the Internet and on-line communication particularly. Today there are a lot of on-line messengers being used in different countries. What are they and in what countries they are being preferred mostly? Which one is better to choose for dealing with you foreign partners or getting some business acquaintance? Here we present a brief description of the most popular IMs to help you to find the one which suits you and your business best.

As it has already been said, the first one was ICQ, an instant messaging computer program, which was developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis, and which was acquired by Time Warner's America Online (AOL) Mirabilis on June 8, 1998 for $407 million. The first version of the program was released in November 1996 and since then ICQ has become one of the first Internet-wide instant messaging services. The name ICQ is a homophone for the phrase "I seek you". Today ICQ is used by over 31 million users worldwide. ICQ features include sending text messages, offline support, multi-user chats, free daily-limited SMS sending, presumable file transfers, greeting cards, multiplayer games and a searchable user directory. ICQ provides all users additional services and content products: ICQ TV, online video magazine; ICQ SIM Card, SIM card that enables users traveling across Europe to use their cellular telephone while paying a discount price; ICQ Game Center, games platform that enables the user to play with and /or against other users; ICQ2Go, A web IM option for users who cannot download the program onto their computer. ICQ users are identified by numbers called UIN, distributed in a sequential order.

MSN Messenger also lets you to connect with people via the Internet. Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger, and often colloquially referred to as MSN) is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft that is currently designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Mobile. It connects to Microsoft's .NET Messenger Service. It was first recognized as MSN Messenger on July 22, 1999, and as online services Windows Live Messenger on December 13, 2005. In addition to its basic functionality and general capability of an instant messaging client, Windows Live Messenger offers the following features: sharing Folder (unique to Windows Live Messenger) which is an alternative to the "direct transfer" method of file distribution, games and applications; offline messaging; "i’m" initiative, that connects the user with ten organizations dedicated to social causes through Windows Live Messenger, only for conversations sent or received in the USA, and other ones and PC-to-PC calls. The latter feature is only available in selected countries, including the US, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Spain, and Italy and supported by Verizon. Among other features we can note interoperability, between Yahoo! and Windows Live Messenger, launched on July 12, 2006. It is expected that in 2009 the company will add Google Talk, AOL, ICQ and Jabber to improve multi-client support. 

As for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), it is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol allowing the registered users to communicate in real time mode. It was released by AOL in May 1997. Stand-alone official AIM client software includes advertisements and is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Linux. The software, maintained by AOL LLC, has a large share of the instant messaging market, especially in the United States (with 52% of the total reported as of 2006).

An AOL Instant Messenger is (AIM) iChat (former iChat AV) MobileMe, ICQ and XMPP client by Apple Inc. for their Mac OS X operating system. Using a Jabber-like protocol and Bonjour for user discovery, it also allows LAN communication. iChat's AIM support is fully endorsed by AOL, and uses their official implementation of the AIM OSCAR protocol. Using a Jabber transport, iChat users may also integrate their MSN, Yahoo! and Google Talk contacts into the Jabber pane.

Jabber’s core protocol is Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), an open, XML-inspired protocol originally aimed at near-real-time, extensible instant messaging and presence information , but now expanded into the broader sphere of message oriented middleware. Jabber started to be projected in 1998. Its first major public release occurred in May 2000. Unlike most instant messaging protocols, XMPP is an open standard. Like e-mail, it is an open system where anyone who has a domain name and a suitable Internet connection can run his own Jabber server and talk to users on the other servers. The standard server implementations and many clients are also free and open source software.

Qnext is an instant messenger with P2P (P2Web) broadcasting capabilities which allows users to share files and communicate with email and instant messaging contacts, Voice over IP, video conferencing, multiple instant messaging protocols. It is cross-platform, compatible with Mac, Microsoft Windows, and Linux. 

Trillian is a proprietary multiprotocol instant messaging application for Windows created by Cerulean Studios that can connect to multiple IM services, such as AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, Bonjour, Jabber, and Skype networks. Initially it was released on July 1, 2000 as a freeware IRC client, the first commercial version (Trillian Pro 1.0) was presented on September 10, 2002. Features IM offers include Connection to multiple IM services, Metacontact, Activity history, Time travel, Instant lookup, Emotiblips, Hidden smileys, Skins and interfaces, Plugins. 

Yahoo! is an American public corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, (in Silicon Valley), which provides Internet services worldwide. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine, Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, news, and social media websites and services. The majority of the product offerings are available globally in more than 20 languages. Founded in 1994 and incorporated in 1995 company implemented Yahoo! Messenger later in 1998. Yahoo! Messenger is provided free of charge and can be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo! ID" which also allows access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail, where users can be automatically notified when they receive new email. Yahoo! messenger also offers PC-PC, PC-Phone and Phone-to-PC service, file transfers, webcam hosting, text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories. 

Messenger, Excite is an Internet portal, and as one of the "dotcoms" of the 1990s (along with Yahoo! and Netscape), it has been one of the most recognized brands on the Internet. Today it offers a variety of services, including search, web-based email, instant messaging, stock quotes, and a customizable user homepage. The content is got from over 100 different sources.

And of course we can not forget about Google Talk (GTalk) that let people not only send messages and information to each other it also give an opportunity to make on-line calls. GTalk is a Windows and web-based application for voice over internet protocol (VOIP) and instant messaging, offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005. Instant messaging between the Google Talk servers and its clients uses an open protocol, XMPP, allowing users of other XMPP protocol to communicate with Google Talk users. GTalk offers its clients number of features, such as Interoperability, Product integration, Encryption, Voicemail and file-sharing, Online Calling, Offline messaging, Mobile device compatibility.

Skype is one more popular software enabling users to make telephone calls via the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and to free-toll numbers are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing. Skype has become extremely popular after launch of its services. It was acquired by eBay in September 2005 for $2.6 billion.

Do you think its true that Mainland China has its own messanger? Yes that is Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free in, and the world’s third most popular IM service. Since it was launched in February 1999, QQ quickly became as a modern cultural phenomenon. First it was released as a "Network Paging" real time communications service. Then the creators have successively added other features such as chatrooms, games, personal avatars (similar to "Meebo" in MSN), internet storage, and internet dating. Aside from the chat program, QQ has also developed many subfeatures including games, pets, ringtone downloads, etc. The original name of QQ was OICQ. The name was based on an already existing IMS (Internet Message Service), "ICQ". OICQ" stood for "Oriental ICQ"but because of possible trademark infringement was changed to "QQ”

Poland also has its national instant messanger Gadu-Gadu (Polish for "chit-chat"; commonly known as GG or gg). Gadu-Gadu is the most popular IM service in Poland, with over 7.8 million registered accounts and approximately 6.5 million users online daily. Gadu-Gadu is financed by advertisers. The developer is based in Warsaw, Poland.

India is not behind. It also provides its users with Rediff Bol Instant Messenger supporting Hindi. Rediff.com India is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA. 

As you could see, most of the IMs are used by different people from the different corners of the world. Generally they just choose which one is more convenient for them. Some of them like Gtalk or Skype that let make telephone calls via the Internet. But some of IMs got popularity in certain countries. For instance, in America people mostly choose Yahoo! that provides them with enormous number of services, or AOL; in Russia users prefer ICQ: Polish ones, for instance use their national "chit-chat" or GG; in India that is Rediff Bol Instant Messenger, in China – QQ. And if once you decided to set up business in the other country or extend your business borders just choose the messenger which is more appropriate for your goals: for contacts with Chinese businessmen it’s better to choose QQ, for collaboration with Polish one – you’ d better select GG.

In the modern world internationalization and globalization are the most significant processes where international relationships are very important. So the role of IMs is increasing as erases all the borders and unites people from every where….