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AOL to Replace AIM with Triton

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the millions-of-chatty-teens-grow-silent dept.

An anonymous reader writes "BetaNews is reporting that AOL has begun beta testing a replacement for its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) software. Triton has an entirely new user interface that adds highly anticipated features including tabbed messaging and logging. The client will also be open to third party plug-ins." From the article: "It is no coincidence that AOL is fielding so many betas concurrently. AOL Browser, an Internet Explorer based Web browser; AOL Media Player, a standalone audio and video player; AOL search technologies and AOL's synchronization utilities are all part of what was once a unified communications client called Fanfare."

31 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. An aol user was qouted as saying, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "OMG WTF?!?!?"

  2. Deja Vu by sqlrob · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sounds familiar

  3. Cool. by rekenner · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Stuff that programs like Trillian (Windows), GAIM (windows, Linux), Fire (osx), and Dead AIM (Windows, add on) have had for years.

    And then VoIP? Skype...

    Nothing new to see here, move along...

  4. Interesting features... by angst7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    adds highly anticipated features including tabbed messaging and logging

    I've been using this for quite a while, though. It's called Gaim.

    --
    StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
  5. early beta by frieked · · Score: 5, Informative

    It is worth noting that this is still an early beta.
    I installed it this morning and had frequent crashes so I switched back to the regular 5.9 version.

    Here's a select quote from the betanews forums:
    "Why is it that so many small or independent developers give us so much quality software, often without reward, and huge companies like AOL can only spit out this bloated garbage?"

    --

    I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
    -Xenocrates
    1. Re:early beta by barzok · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Because the small guy actually cares about the product, has passion around it, enjoys the work, and wants to put out something that makes him look good. He's also far more likely to "dogfood" the application, so it has to work for him before anyone else.

      Huge companies like AOL (this is a generalization!) only care about the bottom line, and the passion & interest for the product isn't nearly as strong at the level of the developers. They aren't building something they believe in, they're building what they're paid to build. Add in "too many chiefs, not enough indians" (basically, every mid-level manager and marketdroid has to get their word in and impose their will) and the end result is bloated garbage.

    2. Re:early beta by kirun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This beta is running at about 100MB usage of RAM.

      Why do I get the feeling the ICQ developers had a hand in this?

      --
      I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
  6. gAim and DeadAim, anyone? by Jeremy.DeGroot · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A lot of those features touted in the headline are features that I've been using for years with alternative clients. Oh, but what's this? Support for VOIP? Address books? Plug-in architechture? Now it's sounding more interesting. I may have to start using the AIM client again.

  7. Preferences we can't understand by digitaldc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Answering another user grievance, AOL will pair down the number of preference options in AIM, taking what it refers to as a "smarter approach." A spokesperson said that the current AIM client was heavy with preferences because, "We couldn't decide one way or another."
    But they still tacked on tons of ads and annoying pop-up windows, the dumb approach. Hopefully the new version will be ad-free and user friendly. Is this possible?

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  8. New *client* by gregfortune · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just as a clarification, this is *not* a new protocol. This is a new client that integrates the AIM protocol and functionality with other services.

    1. Re:New *client* by MCron · · Score: 3, Informative

      To expand on that, AOL has two protocols, OSCAR (which is used by the AIM client and Triton as well as gAIM and Trillian) and TOC (which was released in 1997 for third-party developers).

      While TOC has been fairly crippled, OSCAR is still expanding (server storage of aliases, for example) and shows no sign of needing replacement.

      --
      Send offline messages on AIM with DoorManBot
  9. TRITON!!! by Jicksta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Trion!!!

    Now with bigger, more explosive ads!

  10. Successful Business Plan? by bigtallmofo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think now I'll write a P2P application that runs on top of Triton called Tritonster. When AOL inevitably sues me for trademark infringement I'll claim that my daughter's nickname has been Tritonee for some time.

    Sounds like a winning business plan to me!

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
  11. Opening Up? by MCron · · Score: 3, Informative

    They say they will be opening up to third party developers.
    I checked the acccore.dll file, and seems to have some pretty extensive hooks. All the same, this is entirely client-side.

    Recently, they have been clamping down more and more on third-party developers of services on the network. For example, a free offline messaging service, DoorManBot was forced offline for a few days recently. Hopefully, this new spirit of being open to developers will carry through.

    --
    Send offline messages on AIM with DoorManBot
  12. Not very impressive by Kimos · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I live in Canada so have never used AIM. I am, however, an avid user of Trillian and GAIM over ICQ and MSN. Now I'm not sure if it's just me, but offering tabbed chatting and logging features doesn't seem that impressive to me. Honestly, I wouldn't use a client that didn't log conversations and offer some type of window control.

    I didn't RTFM, but I hope that those aren't the best features that Triton has to offer...

    1. Re:Not very impressive by HAKdragon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What does living in Canada have to do with using AIM?

      --
      "Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
    2. Re:Not very impressive by rainman_bc · · Score: 3, Informative

      What does living in Canada have to do with using AIM?

      While quite popular in America, I know of no one on AIM in Canada. In my circles MSN seems most popular, with ICQ second and YIM third.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    3. Re:Not very impressive by Kimos · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nobody here uses AOL. I know it's available because I've gotten the CDs in the mail, but I've never had a single AOL email address in my address book. The only exception is when I do eBay business with the US, then it seems every third person is using AOL.

  13. Re:Pretty Interesting by Rei · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm looking forward to AIM being replaced with Triton. I feel that the distant reaches of our solar system are a good place to send anyone who wants to use AIM.

    --
    Are there any deer in the theater tonight? Get 'em up against the wall.
  14. Re:AIM? by gregfortune · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Isn't AIM something only people with AOL use?"

    Yeah, not very many of those people around.. </sarcasm>

  15. Forget features, I want them to keep giving me CDs by pg110404 · · Score: 5, Funny

    With the advances in CD/DVD burning and buffer underrun protection, I've not made any coasters in a really long time.

    It's like c'mon, what else can I put my cup/glass on? I don't even get the Bell sympatico CDs anymore either.

    Cheap bastards. Don't they know their CDs are actually worth something to me?

  16. awesome! by ohzero · · Score: 5, Funny

    it'll be like....trillian 0.9B!!

    --
    -- http://www.criticalassets.com
  17. Triton's Mozilla Past by jhewitt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Triton was completely re-written from scratch using a new GUI toolkit called "Boxely", which was derived from Mozilla's XUL. As a result, this new AIM is extremely extensible, and hackable.

    Poke around in C:\Program Files\Common Files\AOL\AIMBeta\services and you'll find a bunch of javascript and xml files (ending in .box). These contain the code that drives the entire product. You can easily modify and extend AIM, just as you can write extensions for Firefox with XUL. This is no accident, AOL wants developers to build on AIM as a platform.

    When I worked at AOL, I developed Boxely as a fun side project. I left the company a year ago, but they kept my project alive and now seem to be building real software with it. I probably should have open sourced it from the beginning.

    On my blog I've written more about Boxely and how it compares to XUL: http://www.joehewitt.com/

    1. Re:Triton's Mozilla Past by jhewitt · · Score: 3, Informative

      They did replace the Python script wrapper with Javascript, and they have optimized the code quite a bit and added some new features. However, as far as I can tell, the markup language and general architecture hasn't changed much at all.

  18. Minimum System Requirements? by jtriska · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just what does this client do that it needs more than a 600mhz computer?

    I got the installer, which was annoying as it's not even an installer at all but an install-getter, and it immediately prompted me with the message "Your computer does not meet the minimum system requirements to download and install AIM® Beta."

  19. Security? by tuxlove · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The client will also be open to third party plug-ins.

    Yay! More ways for spyware and viruses to take control of your computer! And propagate themselves to your friends' computers too. This is a disaster waiting to happen.

  20. This may actually turn out to be useful. by AdityaG · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I know AOL doesn't have a record of doing smart things, but if they actually make the client non-shitty, it can only help. People won't generally switch to Gaim and Trillian, because they don't know the company. People want a name brand. We see this with Linux vs. Windows and such.

    So if they actually make a better client, maybe one that instantly kills noob fuxx0rs, the world will be a better place.

  21. no coincidence? by sootman · · Score: 3, Funny

    "It is no coincidence that AOL is fielding so many betas concurrently."

    What, did they get bought by Google?

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  22. Now how about taking features away... by acroyear · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...like using pure Flash for advertisements?

    I had to switch to GAIM not for any particular feature, but to get rid of the advertising.

    Seemed the version of AIM I was using at the time allowed Flash advertisements with sound, and the sound completely ignored my other settings in the AIM client to turn all sounds off.

    so here i am, in my quiet little room trying to get work done, and suddenly I get interrupted by a trailer for some movie coming from the one app that should have been totally silent.

    I was not amused.

    and AIM was off my box in seconds.

    --
    "But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
    -- Joe
    1. Re:Now how about taking features away... by zerkon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Don't even get me started on AIM advertising, how about one day I walk over to my computer and the Java VM is running... odd there isn't a browser open... all thats open is AIM?? last thing I need is aim using up (in addition to the already bloated software that it is) an additional 20MB of ram to run Java...

      then of course there is the "mouse over to hear" advertising that comes blaring out of my speakers when I minimize a window and mouse over by accident...

      and my gf wonders why i use gaim

      --
      The Answer
  23. Re:Until it can connect with multiple IM services. by badasscat · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's no tabbed messaging

    Tabbed messaging has been in Trillian since 2.0. See here.

    you still have to have an account with each service you want to use

    For at least a couple of the services, you can do this right through Trillian (for the others, it loads up a web page just like the official client does). I don't see how this is any different than what you'd do with an official client.

    Trillian is basically just an IM client aggregator- it doesn't provide any messaging capabilities itself

    Well, being an IM client aggregator pretty much makes it a killer app in itself (yes, I know there are others, but that alone instantly puts it a rung above all "official" IM clients, as does the lack of ads).

    Being nicely designed and skinnable puts it yet again a step above even most other aggregators. Trillian 3.0 is so far ahead of any other IM client in terms of clean visual presentation throughout that it's not even funny. All apps should look this good by default, and if by some remote chance you don't like it, you can just download a new skin. The entire UI is skinnable, not just the outer edges. It also supports all sorts of plugins, from RSS readers to IM forwarders to weather.

    Having features like tabbed messaging and 128-bit encryption is yet another point in its favor. No other freely downloadable Windows-based IM clients have these features, that I know of.

    In short, Trillian does a lot of things, does some things no other IM client does, and everything it does do, it does well. AOL is apparently copying many of the features of Trillian in Triton, which should tell you something - I don't personally know anyone who actually uses the regular AIM client anymore.