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Once you upgrade you can never go back to the older versions

No downgrade available

Once you install the latest version of ICQ, you will be unable to go back to any version prior to icq2000b. Through our testing and research, it appears that ICQ has changed their communications protocol again. Except this time, they fixed it so users can no longer downgrade their ICQ versions. By upgrading to the latest version of ICQ, your UIN profile in the Mirabilis database seems to change in such a way preventing you from returning to an older version of ICQ.

Three reasons not to upgrade

We will touch on this subject again when we learn more. Right now we can identify three reasons why an individual using icq2000b or a later version might wish to return to an earlier version.

Versions icq2000b or a later are adware and have an obnoxious banner present whenever the interface is open.
There is a feature enabled by default which allows other Internet users access to files on your computer.
The latest ICQ versions require considerably more memory to operating, stealing resources away from other Windows applications and Windows itself.

Oops! I already upgraded :(

That's fine if you don't mind adware. Many other ICQ users are tolerating these new intrusive banners everyday while they use this AOL tainted program. However, we feel that there are already too many banners on the Internet. The Internet has become more commercialized than television!

What to do now

Check back later for our follow up article "New ICQ Protocol part of forcing advertisements on users." Here we will offer some suggestions on what to do if the banners bother you as much as they bother us. There are some alternative ICQ Instant Message programs available today. Check out our alternative ICQ IM program list. This list contains some of the ICQ clone programs we have come across. These chat clients are being developed by programmers, hackers, and companies other than Mirabilis. Most are freeware and none of the ones we offer here have any banner advertisements. These programs will allow you to communicate with ICQ users and some will even allow you to communicate with other IM program users such as people using AOL Instant Messenger or those using the Yahoo! IM program.
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  © Once you upgrade you can never go back to the older versions.   (article written October 2001)
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