Excite has experienced many problems in the recent past, from the lost merger with AT&T to a shortage of funds, to the "AtHome" bankruptcy.  For whatever reasons ... the old Excite VP  is no more.  BUT ... at present they are working to satisfy their users.

Currently they have set-up a new program called Super Chat.  It is a small download (majority of the program runs from their servers) ... and while there are a lot of bugs to work out ... it does appear to work to some degree.  Recent upgrades even allow for "surfing the internet, and gestures ... still in beta stage, but you can get it at the link below.

New Excite VP/ Super Chat
 

Other possible solutions:
voodoo chat: very similar to the old vp, not many people there yet, but good solid program

halsoft:  The company that bought the rights to the old vp proggie, ... now a pay site ($10 per month, or $80 per year).  Can't evaluate it myself, simply cause I won't shell out that kind of money for a chat program.  can also be found at vpchat.com
 

Other chat programs available:
ICQ... perhaps the most used - Very good for individual / private chats.
Yahoo Messanger - good for one on one talk
PalTalk... has voice and email  (nice .. lot's of advertisement)
AbsoluteAgency ... Has both "pay" and "free" membership, features such as: avatars, private rooms and whispering, text size and color settings! (I haven't tested it)
FoolMoon ... looks promising.
IRC ... pay site, geared more toward the geeks.
VillageIRC ... the more public version - they also have a $20 client proggie you can download
WebCQ ... Create your own chat
MyInfoChat ... html based, but you can create your own chat rooms.
 

While I no longer spend much time in chat, I have to give my thumbs up to the voodoochat program, and I do visit there once in a blue moon.  I also check in on the old VP (Now "Super Chat") maybe once a month just to evaluate what's going on in the chat community.  Both are decent programs.
 

For a larger listing visit the Top 100 site to see the ...

Top 100 Chat programs

page by: CH Davis