I'm new to the text messaging world and was wondering what are my options.  I guess the Windows Live Messanger is what is pre-installed.

What others are worth looking into and why do you like them?

Thanks,

edspilot

I think you're confusing text messaging with instant messaging.  Text Messaging is available through your carrier - Instant Messaging would be Windows Live Messenger for MSN (built in), or a third party app which connects to AIM or Yahoo.  I use IM+ for Instant Messaging

I use octro talk... it has msn,yahoo,aim and icq great program and it is free  

I want to use OctroTalk, but for some reason I can't see anyone online using the AIM protocal. Gmail Talk or whatever it's called works fine, but I really want it for use with AIM.

Actually, disregard that last message. When I logged into OctroTalk again, it prompted me to accept all my contacts. One thing I really like about OctroTalk is that it shows when contacts are "on mobile." This is a great feature that I have not seen on other PPC instant messengers.

OctroTalk seems like a very polished app. I like it a lot.

IM+ is also very nice, although it is far too expensive for me to purchase at the moment.

For now, OctroTalk seems very good. I like the today plugin and the fact that it does a great job on contacts' status, giving idle time and "on mobile" info correctly.