“Only months after America Online and Microsoft declared war in
the instant messaging market, alternative instant messaging
products are cropping up that intend to both compete and
interoperate with AOL’s market-leading messaging systems.”
“Jabber.org, a grassroots effort to craft an instant messaging
service under the open-source software development model, got a
boost this week with Corel’s decision to implement Jabber’s
software in Corel’s Linux desktop operating system and
applications.
Corel will add the instant messaging client in a partnership
with Webb Interactive Services, which has taken a keen interest in
Jabber’s project to produce an instant messaging client based on
Extensible Markup Language (XML).”
“…IntraActive tomorrow will launch its Banter MultiNetwork
Instant Messenger. Written in Java, Sun Microsystems’
cross-platform programming language, the product will run on the
Windows, Macintosh, Unix, and Linux platforms.”
“Another instant messaging system that promises to interact with
AOL’s technology and other software is Software Fusion’s Universal
Messenger, now under development and available in a trial
version.”