If you want to check out what people are complaining about, you can download ICQ 6, the current version. has previous versions of both ICQ and ICQ Lite, an even slimmer client. "It used to be a wonderful little IM program, then they just couldn't leave well enough alone and kept adding more and more," complains one user. "I would prefer to use an even older and less bloated version, but they no longer connect to the newer clients and network." "I still use ICQ 2003 Pro, primarily because it still has the original single message mode instead of the split chat window," says PC World's Elliott Kirschling. Ever since, people have been complaining about the software's bloat. ICQ was at one time the big boy of the instant messaging world. "Not only do they do that horrible explosion thing, but for some reason you can't make them any smaller than the default, and the really tiny smilies are so much cuter :)."Īmerica Online seems to have a knack for wrecking good instant messengers. "The smilies are unbearable in the newer versions," another user adds. "The older versions work much better they do just what I want, which is allow me to communicate with people with a minimum of fuss and without a slick interface that I don't need." "They made the newer versions way too foofy and filled with I don't need," one OldVersion user says of AIM. "A lot of our users use AIM 5.5.x or 5.9.x simply because do what users need the app to do and don't use as much CPU," he says. 's Alex Levine, like many others, complains that the newest version of AIM features more pop-ups, more advertising, and a difficult-to-use interface. Make sure your other defenses are as strong as you can make them, and be extra careful about what you click.ĭo you think your instant messaging application is bloated? Welcome to the club. So if you choose to run old versions of programs, you are taking a calculated risk. īefore we start on our list of Golden Oldies, though, keep in mind one big caveat: An undeniably good thing that comes with new versions of software is the fixes you get for security holes, sometimes very serious ones. If you're looking for a hard-to-find older application, try and. Also, isn't the only site that archives old software. Note: When clicking on a link for software at, you may need to scroll down the resulting page to find the version you want.
We asked site founder and editor Alex Levine to give us his picks of the best oldies, and we asked site users to weigh in as well. And we also went to an online treasure trove of older-but-better software-the site, which has rounded up countless earlier versions of dozens and dozens of programs. We asked our own PC World editors for their lists of applications that were better before developers started mucking around. For our compilation of earlier-is-better software, we went to the pros-the people who use plenty of programs every day.
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