Editing Instant messaging (section)

=== Graphical messengers ===
Modern, Internet-wide, [[Graphical user interface|GUI]]-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid-1990s with [[PowWow (chat program)|PowWow]], [[ICQ]], and [[AOL Instant Messenger]] (AIM). Similar functionality was offered by [[CU-SeeMe]] in 1992; though primarily an audio/video chat link, users could also send textual messages to each other. [[AOL]] later acquired [[Mirabilis (company)|Mirabilis]], the authors of ICQ; establishing dominance in the instant messaging market.<ref name="gitbooks" /> A few years later ICQ (then owned by AOL) was awarded two patents for instant messaging by the [[U.S. patent office]]. Meanwhile, other companies developed their own software; ([[Excite (web portal)|Excite]], [[MSN|Microsoft (MSN)]], [[Ubique (company)|Ubique]], and [[Yahoo!]]), each with its own [[proprietary protocol]] and [[software client|client]]; users therefore had to run multiple client applications if they wished to use more than one of these networks. However, the open protocol IRC continued to be popular by the millennium, and its most popular graphical app was [[mIRC]].<ref name="zmescience20181109" />

While instant messaging was mainly in use for consumer recreational purposes, in 1998, [[IBM]] launched their [[IBM Lotus Sametime|Lotus Sametime]] instant messenger software, the first popular example of enterprise-grade instant messaging.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tay |first=Liz |date=2008-07-08 |title=IBM touts unification of consumer and business communication tools |url=https://www.itnews.com.au/news/ibm-touts-unification-of-consumer-and-business-communication-tools-116231 |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=iTnews}}</ref> In 2000, an [[open-source software|open-source application]] and [[open standards]]-based protocol called [[Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol]] (XMPP) was launched, initially branded as ''Jabber''. XMPP servers could act as gateways to other IM protocols, reducing the need to run multiple clients.<ref>{{Cite web |title=XMPP |url=https://xmpp.org/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=xmpp.org}}</ref>

[[Video calling]] using a [[webcam]] also started taking off during this time. Microsoft's [[NetMeeting]], which was focused on business "[[web conferencing]]", was one of the earliest; the company then launched [[Windows Messenger]], coming preloaded on [[Windows XP]], featuring video capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-08-15 |title=New Yahoo IM chats up broadband |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/new-yahoo-im-chats-up-broadband/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref> Yahoo! Messenger added video capabilities in 2001;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yahoo! Messenger offers video option - Jun. 26, 2001 |url=https://money.cnn.com/2001/06/26/technology/yahoo/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=money.cnn.com}}</ref> by 2005, such features were built-in also in AIM, [[MSN Messenger]], and [[Skype]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2005-12-01 |title=Skype adds in video to net calls |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4488806.stm |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

There were a reported 100 million users of instant messaging in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2001-09-09 |title=Messaging in an instant |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1531112.stm |access-date=2024-08-06 |language=en-GB}}</ref> As of 2003, AIM was the globally most popular instant messenger with 195 million users and exchanges of 1.6 billion messages daily.<ref name="bbc20030630"/> By 2006, AIM controlled 52 percent of the instant messaging market, but rapidly declined shortly thereafter as the company struggled to compete with other services.<ref name="gitbooks" />