As far as people still using AIM...I don't understand how you could say it's anywhere near outdated or past its prime. All of my local friends that I know in person use it. The only people I know who use MSN are my "online" friends, and to be honest, I have no idea why. I hate MSN. I find its user interface to be rather shinguardty. I'm not saying AIM's is great either, I just like it better.
It's all a moot point though because I use and have been using the best chat client out there for the past 4 years now -- Trillian (Pro). By far the best chat client software out there. Support for several instant messengers (AIM, MSN, Yahoo, IRC, ICQ, etc) with tons of awesome plugins and cool skins and emoticons. I won't be switching to anything else anytime soon.
