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ChatFiles
Basic
Would you like to have your own custom chat room on your Web site? You can
easily set up a chat room with ChatFiles' free, ad-supported "Basic" service.
This remotely-hosted service includes such nifty features as insert smilies,
optional private chat windows, sounds, and more.
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Chatzone
Here's a popular, family-friendly free chat channel that you can access via
your browser. Chatzone is one of the more enduring IRC chat channels, dating
back to 1996. It's aimed at English speakers who are at least 15 years old.
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Chatzy
Need a quick way to chat with your friends? Here's a top-notch free service
that lets you easily create your own chat room, in which you can invite people
via E-mail to chat. No installation or registration is required and the
service doesn't pester you with banner ads or popups.
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FreeJavaChat.com
Here, you can get a free, customized chat room for your Web site.
FreeJavaChat.com offers Java-based chat rooms that include a feature-rich
IRC-compliant Web interface. A big plus for this service is that it displays
no ads.
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CyberNet
Worlds
Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of 3D chat with CyberNet Worlds'
free 3D chat browser. Here, you can roam around various colorful 3D
landscapes, chatting with users from around the world and build your own
virtual home. The CyberNet community also stages social events, parties and
contests. (For Windows).
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PalTalk
The best free chat program we've seen yet, this state-of-the-art multimedia
client features both instant messaging and Net telephony. An ad-supported
program, PalTalk lets you make local and long distance calls for free to
anyone who has Web access. (For Windows).
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Trillian
Basic
Are you tired of having an instant messaging program that always seems to be
incompatible with the ones your friends use? Trillian Basic is an outstanding
freeware program that allows you to access any of the Web's five major
instant-messaging services: AIM, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and IRC.
This new version adds useful features such as 128-bit encryption and group
chat. It's free for non-commercial use. (For Windows).
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IMpersona
Liven up your instant messaging sessions on
MSN Messenger with this nifty free program, which lets you select an
animated "virtual character" to represent yourself. These 3D talking heads
display facial emotions and speak the words you type. There's a wide range of
characters to choose from. (For Windows).
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Chatway.com
This service offers a free online chat community, as well as message boards
and chat rooms for your own Web site. For more experienced users, there are
instructions on connecting to Chatway.com via an IRC client, such as
mIRC.
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Active
Worlds 3D chat
We think that this is one of the coolest freeware programs on the Web. It's a
browser that lets you access AlphaWorld, a unique, 3D virtual community
populated by real people. The Active Worlds universe boasts thousands of users
who you can chat with. You can explore over 100 worlds in real-time,
high-color graphics. You can even own land and create buildings on your
property, from a simple house to an elaborate palace.
(Available for Windows, Macs and Linux).
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ICQ
A must-have instant messaging and chat program from Israel that ranks as one
of the Web's most useful freeware programs. ICQ's features could fill a book
but the most important innovation it offers is "awareness" (the ability to
determine whether other people are online at a given moment).
Available for Windows, Macs and Palms.
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OnChat
(Note: This service is no longer free, as of Feb. 1,
2002). An impressive, state-of-the-art visual chat service. Here, you
select an avatar (a graphical representation of yourself) and then you may
roam around large, colorful graphical worlds, populated by real people (who're
also representated by avatars). No downloads are required; it's all Java-based
(which means you should have a relatively new browser). If you haven't tried
this sort of chat before, give it a shot: it's quite fun.
(For Windows and Macs).
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ChatPOP
(Note: this site is temporarily unavailable). A
nifty, 3D graphical animation chatting service. To get started, just download
the freeware chat client and select your avatar to represent you. This program
even comes with a scene editor, that lets you design your own custom home.
ChatPOP is available in English, Korean and Japanese.
(For Windows).
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