AOL has opened up their instant messenger service to developers with Open AIM, and you can find all the juicy, code-related details on the AIM developer page. There's another little intro to the program from Justin Uberti, AIM's chief software architect on his blog. This opens the entire Triton app up to developers, who can even write their own IM client if they like. Plug-ins will no doubt be a popular item as well. Unfortunately, this also means apps like Adium and Trillian will not see those features, as you won't be allowed to replicate them on other chat clients who use other protocols.