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I don't understand iChat...

ScarletRed

ScarletRed

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2006
198
0
Right here
Hello. I am new to Mac. So far, I've been enjoying using my brand new MBP but I still have lot of things to learn about the way Mac operates. So please pardon me for asking what may be a silly question but how do I go about signing up with iChat with an email account other than mac.com? I don't even have AIM nor do I wish to create one just for the purpose of creating an iChat account. I have a Yahoo Messenger on my PC but YiM is so buggy, I seldom use it.

From what I've seen so far, iChat requires annual fee. I do not like this. Are there any free chat programs for Mac out there? If so, which would you recommend?
 
You can get a free .mac account for iChat - so there is no cost associated with using iChat. Others here also like Adium.

I don't do a lot of IMing, so iChat works fine for me.
 
iChat is free and works with .mac, AIM, and Jabber. Just click on the dropdown menu that says .mac when you're creating it and select something else. An aim account is free to make at aim.com; and the new yahoo messenger is actually pretty good.
 
DavidLeblond said:
You don't need .Mac to use iChat.

Jabber and AIM are free.
gTalk is free. (gTalk uses Jabber)
Click to expand...


But, you do need an account. Just to be clear (I'm not sure it is from the OP's question). You need to use something, either AIM or .mac, or another one if you use a different IM program.
 
God I hope they make iChat decent in Leopard. It is really one of the weaker links in OS X.
 
Le Big Mac said:
But, you do need an account. Just to be clear (I'm not sure it is from the OP's question). You need to use something, either AIM or .mac, or another one if you use a different IM program.
Click to expand...

Right. I mean, there's no way around that. How are you going to chat if you don't have a screen name?
 
altaprod said:
It states that it's a 2 month free trial.
:mad:
Click to expand...

When the trial period is up, you lose some .mac functionality, but iChat will continue to work just fine.

I use iChat relatively frequently and really can't complain about performance.
 
I love iChat,

I think it looks good with the brushed metal, and it matches iTunes...

Also, It rocks for sending files, I've send gigs of info overnight while me and the recipient sleep..it's quite fast.

If you ever wanna use a webcam, Adium in a no go...so for that reason, I don't use Adium, because my $$ iSight (non built in) would just be an paper weight...

Just go to www.aim.com and create a user name, you don't need to download the actual crappy AIM program...

couldn't be simpler, no need for .mac, or google chat or any of that...
 
DavidLeblond said:
Right. I mean, there's no way around that. How are you going to chat if you don't have a screen name?
Click to expand...

You got to sign up somewhere. Heck, even Skype (which has gotten a bit of notoriety for being really difficult for authorities to tap into) requires some sort of registration.

I think the more important question is: what do your friends use?
 
Oh, I thought you lose @mac.com email and iChat along with it when the free trial period is up. Thank you for clarifying.

What would it take to make Apple include gmail in iChat? I love gmail. I think it's the best email out there.
 
keithbennis said:
Until iChat becomes more customizable.. or has better/nicer features...
Adium > *
Click to expand...

Adium is only good for peole that want all those features. I only use iChat to chat, and nothing else, so iChat is the best option in my opinion if you are satisfied with a small feature set. Adium is overkill, and frankly doesn't look that good in my opinion.
 
Um....

ScarletRed said:
What would it take to make Apple include gmail in iChat? I love gmail. I think it's the best email out there.
Click to expand...

Probably money.

You really like Google reading all your mail?
 
quigleybc said:
David Leblond's post above has a link showing you how to set up iChat with Google chat...

Great link by the way..
Click to expand...
Thank you for pointing out that link. I missed it the first time I read thru.

Now that my iChat is set up, where are the chatrooms?:confused:
 
ScarletRed said:
Thank you for pointing out that link. I missed it the first time I read thru.

Now that my iChat is set up, where are the chatrooms?:confused:
Click to expand...

It's more for direct chatting with other people you know already.

If you load your friends & family into your address book with thier AIM/.Mac/Jabber ID's, iChat will automatically show you who is online at any given time.

If most of your friends use yahoo or MSN, you are better off using a program like Adium, which i believe works with just about every IM program.

Almost everyone I know has an AIM account, so iChat works fine for me.
 
Sorry for asking more clueless questions but must the other person also have iChat in order to chat with me? What if they only have PC?
 
ScarletRed said:
Sorry for asking more clueless questions but must the other person also have iChat in order to chat with me? What if they only have PC?
Click to expand...
they don't have to have ichat, they need to be using something like AIM or a jabber based chat client
 
Ah I think we're all confused.

I just took a gander at Yahoo, apparently Yahoo messenger allows you to join chat rooms. Is that right? I've never actually used Yahoo.

I think there is a way to do it in iChat via AIM, although I've never tried it. I found this page in a google search...
 
appleretailguy said:
Probably money.

You really like Google reading all your mail?
Click to expand...
Are you referring to email scans for possible spams, viruses, and placement of ads? If so, aren't you overreacting a bit? Afterall, which email carrier doesn't scan contents for viruses and spams? If you know of better email carrier than gmail, I'm all ears as long as it's not yahoo or hotmail.
 
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