5 ms·

Something I'll miss about AIM and older chat clients is how compact they were. Most of these newer chat programs seem to assume you're going to have their appli

Something I'll miss about AIM and older chat clients is how compact they were. Most of these newer chat programs seem to assume you're going to have their application take up the entire screen.

syntheticnature 9y ago
Good point! Perhaps it's a holdover from smartphone chat apps, most of which were designed full-screen.
0x445442 9y ago
One thing I hate about most IM clients is the buddy/friend/roster list runs in a separate window from actual chat sessions. I much prefer the one window paradigm of IRC.
- jakebasile 9y ago
  Funny, I'm the exact opposite. Most of the chat programs I use (or have used) use the combined approach. Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and so on all have the "buddy list" permanently attached to the conversation window such that you can only see a single conversation at a time. I prefer the MDI of yore since I can have multiple conversations open at once (on desktop, I realize this isn't feasible on mobile).
- ReverseCold 9y ago
  What chat apps use separate windows? The only one I can think of is Steam.
  - Cknight70 9y ago
    Pretty much every older chat program used this at some point including Google chat, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Pidgin, and even Skype.
cortesoft 9y ago
They need all that room for ads.
mrweasel 9y ago
Most modern audio players have the same issue. WinAmp/XMMS took up very little of your screen, while most modern players will assume that full screen is what you want.
- Cknight70 9y ago
  That's the reason I'm still using Winamp. Its aged surprisingly well and it has more features than a lot of modern media players.
  - Consultant32452 9y ago
    It really whips the llama's ass.
    - ansgri 9y ago
      There's also http://aimp2.us/ http://aimp2.us/, which, AFAIR, in some respects whips Winamp's ass. Sadly nothing comparable to either on Linux.
  - nasredin 9y ago
    Winamp 2 or 5? Version 5 kinda sucks.
    - Cknight70 9y ago
      Maybe its because I don't know what I'm missing, but I didn't start using Winamp until version 5, and I think its great. Sure it has a lot of unnecessary or even broken features (looking at you audio converter), but those are easy to ignore and you can even remove some of them.
- reaperducer 9y ago
  This is one of the (few?) things that iTunes gets right. Though it's a little hidden, the entire program can be minimized into a small floating album cover. And if that's not small enough, you can minimize it altogether and just get updates and controls via Notification Center.
SilasX 9y ago
Yes, and will continually bloat with upgrades since "computers get faster, what's the problem?" (See: Electron platform.)
- volkl48 9y ago
  The main AIM client was notorious for this itself (at least in the 2000s when I used it), ads, growing installation size, bloat "features", etc. It's what pushed a lot of users to use alternate clients or stick with old versions.
  - mkhalil 9y ago
    Or install "AIM Ad Hack". Ahhh Nostalgia.
yoz-y 9y ago
True. This is probably due to the fact that many applications are "ported" from the web and web does not grok floating windows.

Something I'll miss about AIM and older chat clients is how compact they were. Most of these newer chat programs seem to assume you're going to have their application take up the entire screen.

syntheticnature 9y ago

Good point! Perhaps it's a holdover from smartphone chat apps, most of which were designed full-screen.

0x445442 9y ago

One thing I hate about most IM clients is the buddy/friend/roster list runs in a separate window from actual chat sessions. I much prefer the one window paradigm of IRC.

jakebasile 9y ago
Funny, I'm the exact opposite. Most of the chat programs I use (or have used) use the combined approach. Telegram, Facebook Messenger, and so on all have the "buddy list" permanently attached to the conversation window such that you can only see a single conversation at a time. I prefer the MDI of yore since I can have multiple conversations open at once (on desktop, I realize this isn't feasible on mobile).
ReverseCold 9y ago
What chat apps use separate windows? The only one I can think of is Steam.
- Cknight70 9y ago
  Pretty much every older chat program used this at some point including Google chat, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, Pidgin, and even Skype.

cortesoft 9y ago

They need all that room for ads.

mrweasel 9y ago

Most modern audio players have the same issue. WinAmp/XMMS took up very little of your screen, while most modern players will assume that full screen is what you want.

Cknight70 9y ago
That's the reason I'm still using Winamp. Its aged surprisingly well and it has more features than a lot of modern media players.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  It really whips the llama's ass.
  - ansgri 9y ago
    There's also http://aimp2.us/ http://aimp2.us/, which, AFAIR, in some respects whips Winamp's ass. Sadly nothing comparable to either on Linux.
- nasredin 9y ago
  Winamp 2 or 5? Version 5 kinda sucks.
  - Cknight70 9y ago
    Maybe its because I don't know what I'm missing, but I didn't start using Winamp until version 5, and I think its great. Sure it has a lot of unnecessary or even broken features (looking at you audio converter), but those are easy to ignore and you can even remove some of them.
reaperducer 9y ago
This is one of the (few?) things that iTunes gets right. Though it's a little hidden, the entire program can be minimized into a small floating album cover. And if that's not small enough, you can minimize it altogether and just get updates and controls via Notification Center.

SilasX 9y ago

Yes, and will continually bloat with upgrades since "computers get faster, what's the problem?" (See: Electron platform.)

volkl48 9y ago
The main AIM client was notorious for this itself (at least in the 2000s when I used it), ads, growing installation size, bloat "features", etc. It's what pushed a lot of users to use alternate clients or stick with old versions.
- mkhalil 9y ago
  Or install "AIM Ad Hack". Ahhh Nostalgia.

yoz-y 9y ago

True. This is probably due to the fact that many applications are "ported" from the web and web does not grok floating windows.