Now you can go online and strike up a conversation with an alien, especially if that's a character one of your Web friends takes on using Microsoft Chat, formerly named Comic Chat. Whether you want a plain vanilla cone—text mode—or are leaning towards a banana split—comic mode—Microsoft Chat dishes up the right flavor to make your chatting experience a delight when you want to meet up with friends and Web acquaintances to conduct real-time conversations. One-click access to tools and resources, plus easy execution of common tasks, are part of what makes Microsoft Chat today's top way to chat on the Web.

Do you like to chat using text? If it's text you like best, you'll want to check out the improvements in Microsoft Chat's text mode. Now you have greater chatting options, including a quick way to deliver your favorite come-backs and send sounds to accentuate your exchanges!

Feeling like a character? When you're in an especially animated mood, select Microsoft Chat's comic mode—the only Internet chat program that lets you take on a 2-D persona and converse inside a comic strip.

Either way, you can use Microsoft Chat to catch up on the latest gossip with friends, hold a family reunion with loved ones scattered around the globe, or meet new people who share similar hobbies and interests. It's even more fun because it's simple to use and easy to access.

Hey! It's not just a toy! Businesses can also take advantage of Microsoft Chat, which is like a conference call—only better. Chatting makes it easier for employees to discuss ideas, resolve issues, and develop solutions in a group-like environment without having to be located in the same place.

Businesses can add a chat control to their intranet site to make it easy for employees to keep in touch. Web authors can also insert the Microsoft Chat Control in their Web pages to instantly create a place where people can meet and chat with each other for hours.

How does it work?

First, you join a chat session and then select how you want to chat—text mode or comic mode. If you change your mind after you start chatting, that's no problem—one-click access to both modes lets you make the switch anytime you want.

Should we do Text or Comic?

Here are a few observations to guide you in deciding whether to hold your chat in text mode or comic mode:

Text mode makes it easy to include lots of people in a chat. Plus, when the pace of a conversation starts to pick up, text mode is the easiest way to view and add comments. In addition to providing customizable fonts, Microsoft Chat's text mode allows you to deliver messages in a variety of ways. By selecting a unique salutation, you will help others know the true meaning of your message. For example, when you want to send a special message to only one person in the room, you can send it as a whisper. And when words alone won't do the job, you can send sounds right along with your text!

Comic mode lets you choose a cartoon character to represent you in a chat that unfolds as a comic strip. In the process you can express a wide range of emotions, send thoughts, whisper to a selected recipient, shout or send other sound effects, plus a whole lot more. As chat participants type text into the comic mode of Microsoft Chat, characters' utterances appear above them as word balloons. Because Microsoft Chat automatically generates each panel on the fly, the presentation of the comic strip conversation is nearly instantaneous.

No matter how you choose to chat, you can print your conversation and save it for offline viewing.

Don't wait. Try it today by downloading Microsoft Chat 2.0! Or, visit our Home Page for more information.