We all know about the benefits of e-mail. It enables people who previously only sent greetings at Christmas to exchange constant updates. You can now be as chummy with a pal in the Yukon as you are with your local grocer. You can remain informed of the latest developments in all your far-flung friends' lives, and vice versa.

Conventional e-mail, however, is no longer the fastest form of electronic communication in the land. Often, you end up waiting hours, days, or weeks to receive particular messages. This is bound to break up the flow of your conversation and -- as inevitably happens in e-mail exchanges -- it can feel as though half your questions go unanswered, simply because your pen-pal's memory falters.

Enter instant messaging, the technology that allows you to exchange e-mail messages real quick-like. So long as you and your correspondent share the same instant messaging (IM) program, you can gab away to your hearts' content, as though your keyboard were a walkie-talkie and each "over-and-out" you spoke were instantly rendered on your friend's computer screen.

And, just like the best things in life, IM technology is free. IM programs can be downloaded quickly, easily and gratis from such popular service providers as America Online, Yahoo!, and MSN. The only glitch is that your instant-messaging-pal must use the same IM software you use in order for the two of you to communicate instantly. This means you should think carefully about who you'll be IM-ing with -- and what IM service they use -- before you install an IM program on your personal computer.

Now where do you acquire this wonderous program?