I am just wondering, I and my brother are connected with a router. is it possible for me to send messages to him without a messenger system (i.e AIM, YIM).

also, my friend recently told me that in work groups, the boss could send a message to all the computers using the command console. if i could get that too, i would appreciate it.

thanks.

If you both have the "messenger" service running (nothing to do with MSN messenger), which you can check by going into Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Services then you can.

Run a command prompt and type "net send machinename_or_ip_address_of_your_brothers_pc your message" without the quotes. This will pop up a Windows message box with your message in on his PC. Its not exactly like chat but it is a way to send a message. It is how some web sites send you annoying pop-ups (which you won't get if you're behind a router)

Type "net send ?" to see the exact syntax you can use.

Alternatively you can use a LAN IM program of which there is a good list to try out here:

http://lists.gpick.com/pages/Instant_Messaging.htm

Also for your info, MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ etc. will all work across a LAN, its just that they have to go via the internet.