Users could register an account and would be assigned a number, like a phone number, for others to be able to contact them (users could also provide handles). The ICQ client application and service were initially released in November 1996 and the client was freely available to download. Ownership of ICQ passed from Mirabilis to AOL in 1998, and from AOL to Mail.Ru Group in 2010. The name ICQ derives from the English phrase 'I Seek You'.

ICQ is an open source instant messaging computer program that was first developed and popularized by the Israeli company Mirabilis in 1996. ICQ was a huge messaging client in the 1990s, before AIM/iChat/SMS came around. You may not be able to register new accounts through the app, but old accounts should continue to work.įeel free to contact Bob Kiwi on his Mac OS 9 nostalgia machine on ICQ # 22536582 Can you believe this software still works? Well it does work still in 2017! Some minor issues you may see is a failure to add contacts- restart the app and you should see the new contacts added in.

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