QQ is targetted mainly for the Chinese market and for non-Chinese speaking people like myself it can be quite difficult to start using QQ. I have created this QQ help page to guide you through registering your own QQ number, downloading the right software and to finally start chatting.

Before you can start using QQ, you need to register a free account.

Step 1 : Free QQ signup / registration 

Tencent launched a new improved English website to register a free QQ account:

http://freeqqm.qq.com/freereg/index-en.shtml 

In the past it was only possible to register a QQ number, but since 2007 it is also possible to register with your existing email address. The signup procedure is very simple. I have not tried signing up with an email address before, but from what I understand you will receive a QQ number that is bound to your email address. 

You will be asked to create a password. This password is important, so don't forget it! After you filled out all the steps, you will get your own free QQ ID! With this ID, you are all set for the next step, using QQ IM!

Step 2 : Download a QQ chat program

Until recently, it was always quite difficult to use QQ for foreigners. Things have changed for the better though and even though the most recent version of QQ is only available in Chinese, there are several other good alternatives.

For Windows: 

• Tencent Messenger 2008

I personally really like Tencent Messenger 2008. It looks nice, works fast, low memory usage and very simple to use. This is great if you just want to start chatting with other QQ users. Tencent Messenger 2008 can be downloaded here: http://im.qq.com/intl/en/tm/2008/

• QQ 2009 English (preview)

QQ2009 is based on the same improved platform as TM2008. It also shares a cleaner user interface and other improvements such as improved performance, better inbox etc. You can download the preview version here:

http://dl_dir.qq.com/qqfile/tm/qq2009preview_sp2_en.exe
 

• QQ 2005 English 

Before TM2008 was available, the only option was to use QQ2005 English.  From the main QQ IM site: http://im.qq.com/ you  can download QQ2005 English Version(Support Vista) . Although this version is called QQ2005, it was actually last updated in 2007 and supports Windows Vista. This chatprogram is quite similar to the Chinese version. I like TM2008 better, but if there is a newer version of QQ, then I will switch because I want to use some more integrated services.

For Apple Mac:

• QQ for Mac (Chinese and English)

Recently Tencent has released it's first official version for the Mac called 'QQ for Mac'. Currently it is still in preview phase and it can be downloaded from the QQ for Mac website (4.5MB). I don't have a Mac, so I never tested this version myself. Judging from the popularity of the Mac desktop and laptops, this is a welcome addition. QQ 1.0 is supports both the Intel and PowerPC platform and it supports Tiger and Leopard versions of Mac OS X. It is supposed to select the correct language based on the OS. At the moment some features are still missing, but you can already use it for basic chatting.

Tencent Messenger and QQ are two seperate products for different people, but of course you can chat from either program with all your QQ friends. QQ(2007) just offers a bit more functionality. For English users I would recommend TM2008, untill there is a new version of QQ.