Hmmmm... I don't doubt what you say, I'm just used to having an IRC channel for each of my clans and/or gaming subcultures.
As I see it, the advantage of IRC is that you have a persistent room, so you don't need to add a ton of strangers to your "buddy' list. Does AIM allow for persistent, public chatrooms?
I used to use AIM to talk to some of my Bschool friends that were technically incompetent, but I just reinstalled it to play some NHL94. So tell me, whats this about using older versions of AIM? I want to know more.
The AIM I was using circa 2002 was nice and simple, with clean windows. Now its a complicated mess with too many features, so being able to use an older client is appealing.