*ICQ* used to be the most popular IM application... until Microsoft launched
*MSN Messenger* and thousands of ICQ users switched to it. In the meantime
ICQ continued to be upgraded until finally reaching version 7. ICQ 7 has a
quick, painless installation process that hardly takes a couple of minutes
and enables you to import contacts from other online services such as
Facebook, Gmail and Windows Live, among others. Once installed on your
system, the program plays its characteristic siren and launches, displaying a
colorful, customizable interface – with the omnipresent banner at the
bottom, of course. Text chats are still the main function in ICQ. You can
spice them up with smileys and tzers (the equivalent to Live Messenger's
winks), customize the text font and color, save the conversation to message
history and play games with your friends. ICQ 7 also enables you to transfer
files and send short text messages via phone. Video chats have also been
integrated in the latest version of ICQ. The program features an excellent
video image quality, but the video chat is displayed on a separate window
from the text chat and makes it a bit uncomfortable to use. The most
outstanding characteristic in this new ICQ is undoubtedly its integration
with social networks. You'll find a tab devoted to notifications from
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, which enable you to track your
friend's activities at all times. Oddly enough, you'll have to set these
services up from the ICQ website. ICQ keeps working on new versions to
measure up to its main competitors but fails to really offer any new
functions.Download *ICQ 7.6* in Softonic
