Bopup Messenger

With instant messengers, like MSN or Yahoo, people can talk to each other, regardless of the distance between them. While they are an effective way of communicating, they share the same weakness: their dependency on your Internet connection. If your connection fails, the messenger will go down with it in a matter of seconds. If you work in a place with limited or restricted Internet access, you can use other programs which make it possible to communicate over your local network. One of the best choices is Bopup Messenger. It provides the same features as popular messengers, but it is designed to work on a network. The best part is that it uses a strong encryption algorithm, ensuring that data transfer and communication can be done in a safe and secure manner.

The setup package is one and a half Mb large and the software can be installed with little or no effort. Although it can be installed easily and it is compatible with most Windows versions, you will have to make a few configurations in order to connect it to your network. Fortunately, you can do this by following a wizard's instructions.

Bopup Messenger displays your contacts list and the received messages under separate tabs. Contacts are displayed in a tree menu, where they can be organized into groups. When viewing messages, you will have the options to go back or forward through all the messages, reply, delete or mark them as favorites. You can chat with your contacts on a different window. You will find the same list of contacts, and you only need to click one and start typing on the left side of the chat window.

While conversing with a person, it is possible to insert emoticons, change your font settings or activate typing sounds. You can view a contact's details, his away message, transfer files, view a history of transfers and messages between you and that person, by selecting him and clicking one of the options on the left edge of the chat window.

The software lets you insert pre-written messages as well. While chatting, you can select a quick answer from a drop menu. By default, you will only find a few messages like "hi", "ok" or "bye", but you can add your own custom messages, after clicking the Add option, in the same drop menu. The software's general settings panel will appear on the screen, with the Quick answers tab already selected. All you have to do is to add text in a list. While going through the settings panel, you may also customize your away messages, access or clear the message and transfer history and configure the program's behavior, related to sent and received messages.