AOL has opened its popular instant messaging client AIM with the release of OpenAIM 2.0.

Open Aim 2.0 provides uninhibited access to all-in-one IM clients like Meebo Pidgin, allowing users on those sites to freely access AIM, reports Wired.

Currently, multi-platform IM desktop apps like Pidgin and Adium rely on hacking and reverse engineering to access chat networks run by AOL, Yahoo, and Microsoft, ultimately limiting the features of a particular network.

OpenAIM 2.0 changes this, joining GTalk in opening all features to third-parties.

AOL may also offer third-parties the option to run AOL ads as part of a revenue sharing plan.