Comparison of instant messaging protocols
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into List of instant messaging protocols. (Discuss) |
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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of instant messaging protocols. Please see the individual protocols' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.
General information
Basic general information about the protocols: creator, version, etc.
| Creator | First public release date | License | Identity (not inc. alias) | Asynchronous message relaying | Transport Layer Security | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonjour | Apple Computer | August 2002 | Proprietary | Username@hostname | No | |
| Gadu-Gadu | Gadu-Gadu | 17 July 2000 | Proprietary | Unique number e.g. 12345678 |
Yes | |
| IRC | Jarkko Oikarinen | August 1988 | Open standard | Nickname!Username@hostname (or "hostmask") e.g. user!~usr@a.b.com 1 |
Yes, but via a memo system that
differs from the main system |
Sometimes, depending on individual server support |
| XMPP (Jabber) | Jeremie Miller | May 2000 | Open standard | Jabber ID (JID) e.g. usr@a.b.c/home 2 |
Yes | Yes |
| Meca Network | Meca Communications | Nov 2002 | Proprietary | Username | Yes | |
| Mobile Status Notification Protocol (MSNP) | Microsoft | July 1999 | Proprietary | E-mail address (.NET Passport) | No | No |
| OSCAR protocol | AOL | ? | Proprietary | Username or UIN e.g. 12345678 |
Yes | No |
| TOC protocol | AOL | ? | Proprietary | Username or UIN e.g. 12345678 |
Yes | No |
| YMSG | Yahoo! | ? | Proprietary | Username | Yes | No |
| Creator | First public release date | License | Identity (not inc. alias) | Asynchronous message relaying | Transport Layer Security |
Note 1: In ~usr@a.b.com, the a.b.com part is known as the "hostmask" and can either be the server being connected from or a "cloak" granted by the server administrator; a more realistic example is ~myname@myisp.example.com. The tilde generally indicates that the username provided by the IRC client on signon was not verified with the ident service.
Note 2: In usr@a.b.c/home, the home part is a "resource", which distinguishes the same user when logged in from multiple locations, possibly simultaneously; a more realistic example is user@jabberserver.example.com/home