Tech Talk

One of the nice features of the Buddy List® is placing your buddies into groups for better organization. The default set of groups include AIM Bots, Buddies, Family, Co-Workers, Recent Buddies, and Offline. You can also create new groups to better categorize your buddies.

The order of the groups in your Buddy List can also be changed. However, the Recent Buddies and Offline groups will always remain at the bottom of your Buddy List.

To move a group in the Buddy List, just drag the group row to a new position. You can do this by clicking on the group row and holding down the mouse button as you move the cursor. As you move the cursor below other groups in the list, you will see a blue line indicating a valid drop zone. The cursor must be moved over the triangle disclosure buttons in order for the blue line to appear. When the blue line is in the location where you want to place the group, release the mouse button. The group row will then be moved to the new location.

This may seem a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will find that moving groups is very easy.

The default for AIM for Mac, your buddies in the Buddy List are displayed in groups, with the last one being the Offline Buddy group. You will initially see all of your offline buddies in the Offline group, and when they come online, they will be moved to their pre-assigned online group.

You can hide the Offline group by clicking on the View menu and selecting Offline Buddies > Do Not Show. Then, your Offline group will disappear.

You can also show your offline buddies within each of the groups by clicking on the View menu and selecting Offline Buddies > Show in Groups. You will still not have an Offline group and all of your offline buddies will be displayed.

Experiment with these offline settings to find the display the suits you the best. To find more configuration options for the Buddy List, look in the application preferences.

Good news! AIM for Mac beta 1 has been released.

AIM for Mac continues our commitment to the growing Mac market by delivering a new AIM experience that’s built from the ground up for the Mac platform. AIM for Mac is one of the most requested applications from our users, and the “buzz” has been increasing with the successful launch of AIM for iPhone™.

AIM for Mac is available on AOL Beta Central.

Here are a few of the advantages AIM for Mac offers:

• AIM Experience: Users can customize their AIM for Mac experience with AIM Expressions - Change your AIM sounds, wallpaper, emoticon set or Buddy Icon.
• Favorite AIM Features: AIM File Transfer, Tabbed IM conversations, friendly names, AIM Groups, AIM Blast groups are supported.
• Easy Access to Mail: With a single click, you can view your mail in AOL or AIM webmail.
• Speed: Download, install and launch AIM for Mac in seconds.

Thank you for trying AIM for Mac; we appreciate your participation. Please be sure to send us your bug reports and feedback. You can also drop in the AIM for Mac message boards to see what other users are saying.