Details: Protocol AIM
Protocol AIM is used by AOL with its AIM instant messaging clients. However, protocol AIM is not the actual protocol. Rather two protocols are used with AIM: OSCAR and TOC. Together these two protocols allow for instant messaging between AIM clients. OSCAR is the official protocol AIM uses with all “official” AOL AIM clients using it. OSCAR is a proprietary protocol developed by AOL and its specifications have not been released.
Therefore, only AOL products use OSCAR. On the other hand, TOC, which was also developed by AOL is an ASCII-based, TCP-based protocol that is used by “unofficial” AIM clients to connect with other AIM clients. TOC was originally used with an AIM client known as TiK but has not been used with any other “official” AIM clients since. Because of this, the functionality of TOC has not kept up with newer AIM technologies.
For example, doesn’t support all of the new features that have been introduced in official AIM clients. For the most part, OSCAR remains the dominant protocol AIM uses. It is a binary, TCP-based protocol. AIM users using official AIM clients can expect full functionality while those using non-official clients may not be able to take advantage of all features.
Associated Protocol AIM Applications:
AIM instant messaging clients