*Minimum specifications:

* Windows 98/2000/ME/XP/Vista
* 800 Mhz Pentium 3**
* 128 Mb of RAM
* 50Mb of disk space
* Works with dial up, Broadband recommended
* Works with any video card, 3D video card recommended

**If your PC does not have a 3D video card then you will need a
processor of 1.5 Ghz or greater.

From a personal perspective, IMVU works best on newer computers. It tends to take control of a lot of your system's memory. I am running a year old Dell XPS 400, 3.5 gigs of RAM and an ATI Radeon video card. I experience a bit of lag from time to time, but I seem to have no real trouble loading the graphics or handling the IMVU client.

It runs slowly for Dial Up users (if at all). Dial Up users have reported room loading times as being extensive and slow. They often time out when inviting others to chat.

It's easy to Sign Up With IMVU. I will lead you through the steps (including some helpful pictures and tips).

Here are some steps to help you:

1. Click Here to begin signing up with IMVU.
2. After you have clicked the "Get Started!" button, you will be led to a screen that looks like this: Avatar Designing Screen.
3. Choose a name for your Avatar. This can be anything you want. Pick something you are sure of! You can change your name later, but it costs money to do this!
4. You can now look through the different, standard choices available to you for hair, head, clothes, shoes, etc. You can change these things at a later time if you do not find something you are happy with.
5. Once you are happy with your choices, click the green "Next" button to continue to the next step.
6. You will now be offered four different choices of starter packages: Cool Pad, Lava Cave, Gangster and Royal Chamber. What you choose is up to you. Choose wisely! You can always buy a new house and furniture later, but this is your one chance at good starter freebies.
7. Once you have chosen a package, you will be required to register. The registration screen looks like this: Registration Screen. Here, you will need to enter a valid E-Mail address, name, date of birth, Country and create a password.
8. You will receive an E-Mail at the address you provided. Be sure to check your spam folder in case it ends up there. You will need this E-Mail to confirm your registration.
9. By confirming your E-Mail address, you will be led to a screen to begin the software download for IMVU. Follow the instructions provided by the Download Wizard and you'll be good to go!
10. Once the software has downloaded, I suggest rebooting your computer. Once you have done this, start the program and log in. Hooray!

Now that you have started the program, you will have a window comparable to a Buddy List, like you would find using any other Instant Messenger. For example, Click Here to view a picture of my own window with my Buddy List showing.

This will be your "central hub" for using IMVU. From here, you can view your online and offline friends, Invite friends to chat, view Home Pages (including your own), get Help, Add Buddies, Shop the IMVU Catalog, Find a Friend and even purchase credits.

That probably sounds like a lot at once, so we will go through what each of those things mean and what you can do on IMVU!

Chat Now:
That Chat Now feature will be your best friend. It's the fastest way to jump into using IMVU. Depending on your natural computer savvy, you will either be able to jump quickly into using the program, or you will need a little help understand what you are "supposed to do". By clicking on "Chat Now", you put yourself in a sort of queue to chat with a person pulled at random, also seeking someone with chat with.

Home Page:
Each account gets it's very own Home Page. It's comparable to a sort of online profile where you can store information about yourself, upload pictures of you and your avatar and customize the entire page to fit your own style. It's a place to tell others all about you!

You can view your own home page, as well as the home pages of your buddies by clicking on the Home Page Link next to their name. For example, check out my own home page: KimisKustoms Home Page.

Shop The Catalog:
The Catalog is what makes IMVU addicting. In the catalog, you can find countless items to purchase with your Credits (we'll discuss these in a moment). You can purchase new hair, skin tone, makeup, eyes, clothing and more for your avatar. You can purchase stickers and stamps for your home page. You can even purchase whole new rooms and furniture!

Find a Friend:
You can use this to do searches and find people on IMVU with similar interests - whether in your area or otherwise.

View IMVU as SIMS mixed with an instant messenger..with a dash of MySpace. You basically can chat with people - friends, family, complete strangers. Granted, there are a few weirdos, but mostly some really cool people.

Each room comes equipped with "nodes", little yellow dots on the floor and furniture that make it possible to stand, sit, pose, dance as well as do a variety of other things. It's a way to interact on a more "physical" level while chatting.

You can choose to try to keep up with the text bubbles above the avatar heads, or you can do as I do, and click the blue "Text Chat" button and read the conversation in a more plain text format as seen in This Example.

Tired of the chat bubbles? No problem! Press the Ctrl and B key simultaneously and the bubbles will go away! No worries, you can always repeat that step and get them back.

Look at credits as your IMVU money. You can use the credits on anything found in the catalog and even use them to give gifts to your friends. But how do you get them and how to you spend them?

Real Credits Vs. Promo Credits:

There is a somewhat significant difference between "real" credits and what are considered to be "Promo" credits. Basically, "real" credits are purchased with REAL money, while "Promo" credits are earned chatting, doing games, etc.

Real credits can be gifted to friends in the form of the credits themselves 7 days after you initially purchase them. Promo credits cannot be gifted to friends, tho you can still use them to purchase stuff from the catalog and give those gifts to friends.

Ways To Earn Cedits:

1. Chat at least once over the first 4 days after registration. Each of these 4 days, you will earn credits simply for chatting! Look at it as a sort of Thank You for using their service (not to mention, it's how they get you hooked).

2. Browse the New Products Page once a day to earn 50 free credits.

3. Compete in the Daily Outfit Challenge and place in the top 6. You can find more information and rules here: Submission Information

4. Invite your friends!!! When you invite a friend, you can earn:

* 500 Credits when the invited friend logs in to the IMVU chat client for the first time.
* An additional 500 Credits when the invited friend has their 1st 3D chat.
* An additional 500 Credits when the invited friend has their 5th 3D chat.
* When the invited friend buys Credits you earn between 1,000 and 10,000 Credits every time they buy a Pack or Avatar Name!

Got a web page? If you have a social network profile page, blog, or website... take part in the Power Earners Program and place your avatar info or banners on web pages. You'll earn Credits each time someone joins IMVU through your web page (just like referring your friends above)!

5. Participate in the Daily Spin Free, a quick little game you can play each day to earn some extra credits!

I can admit that IMVU can become a bit of an addiction, so please use with caution. It's a lot of fun and I recommend it if you are looking to chat with some interesting people and have fun. But please remember to chat with your real friends outside of IMVU as well!

However, if you are ready to take the plunge, Click Here To Get Started Now!

One of the most complicated and most asked about topics is "How do I change my stuff?" With so many different ways to customize your Avatar, you need to know the basics of simply changing your clothes - or whatever it is you are looking to change.

First off, if you purchase something new - we'll say new hair as an example, you will need to click the Refresh Button in your Inventory Tab. This Tab can be found in the same window as your Buddy List. Refreshing will make the new hair (or whatever it is you have purchased with your credit) appear in your inventory list for use.

For most items, a simple click of the "Put On" link next to the item, will switch out the old item for the new. However, for some items just as jewelry, you may need to click the "Take Off" link in order to remove the item so that you do not have both the old and new jewelry on at the same time.

Looking to find other IMVU users interested in your favorite movie? Do you live a certain lifestyle or follow a certain philosophy and are seeking others who share your beliefs? That's easy to do with IMVU Groups!

There are thousands of groups on IMVU - basically forums packed full of other people who enjoy the same things as you! Chat with other people about parenting, politics, movies, music, occupations and much, much more. It's a great way to interact with many people at once without having to invite them all to chat!