To chat with other participants, you need to be connected to the Internet. After a successful login, you are usually marked as Available in the Contact List, and are visible to others. To change your status, click the drop-down box at the bottom of the Contact List and select another option.
To open a chat session, double-click a contact name in the Contact List. The chat screen opens. Type your message, then press Enter to send.
If you open more than one chat session, the new session appears as a tab in the existing chat window. To see all messages of a session and to be able to write a reply, click the tab of that session. To see multiple session side by side, use the mouse to drag a tab out of the window. A second window will open.
To close a chat session, close the tab or window for it.
Tip: Finding a Contact
In case you contact list is very long, contacts may be hard to find. Use Ctrl–F to open a search box at the bottom of the contact list. Type one or more letters to find a contact. Use ↓ to move to the next result, or ↑ to move to the previous result.