[Macworld]

Post your comments for iChat 6.0 here

[jvargas713]

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that iChat supports Yahoo IM. I got tired of Yahoo Messenger App for Mac crashing. Uninstalled Yahoo Messenger and now using iChat.

[buzglyd]

The one benefit iChat has over Adium is the ability to send SMS text messages (at least from the AOL portion). I can see Yahoo buddies which is great but I don't think iChat supports Yahoo SMS.

It's a great way to text from your desktop and it's even better if you're traveling in a foreign country and want to text back home.

[LexFriedman]

buzglyd, on 22 July 2011 - 09:19 AM, said:

The one benefit iChat has over Adium is the ability to send SMS text messages (at least from the AOL portion). I can see Yahoo buddies which is great but I don't think iChat supports Yahoo SMS.

You can do the same in Adium. Add an AIM buddy in the format: +13105551212

So: Plus sign, 1, area code, number.

Ta-da!

[j1h15233]

I never knew about the Facebook chat through iChat so I went to try it and it definitely doesn't work. All it does is ask me for my password over and over and I know my password is right.

[linked_account]

Download Chax for iChat and most of your problems are gone (Auto accept for chats and file transfers)
Growl notifications .... But the new version of Chax for Lion is still not out.

Download Chax for iChat and most of your problems are gone (Auto accept for chats and file transfers)
Growl notifications .... But the new version of Chax for Lion is still not out.

[mprogers]

Thanks for the review, it was very helpful. The only point I might take exception to is your characterization of the "Accept paradigm" as bizarre. To me, the idea of automatically starting a chat is like my phone automatically answering -- clearly an unacceptable behavior.

[lordeagle]

I wonder if Apple will provide an update to iChat once iMessage comes out for iOS in the fall! Would be terrific.

[PRORAIN]

I stopped using Ichat frenquently awhile ago as i found Social Networking services like Facebook and the good old Email a easier and better way to stay in contact with friends. I tried every way and cheat i could find to get FB Chat into Ichat but it never worked for me, not once.

I have had Lion since the hour it came out on the App store but haven't fired up Ichat because i honestly can't see it offering me anything. Most of my contacts addy's are Hotmail which i could never get to work right in Ichat. I will certainly take a look, now that i know about the Yahoo IM feature but i don't see Ichat becoming something i use more than a few times any time soon.

If there is a way to make Hotmail email address's work in Ichat that i never could find then do please mention it, would be appreciated. I tossed up the pros and cons of buying FaceTime, the biggest con that i almost never use video-chat, but am quite pleased about it now, it is more appealing when i didn't have to buy it on it's own. With Lion i can think - free - and not feel guilty for never using it. Xia.

This post has been edited by PRORAIN: 22 July 2011 - 10:37 AM

[j1h15233]

If anyone is having the password problem like I was, I fixed it by going here

http://www.facebook....tetour/chat.php

And following their directions. The only difference apparently is that I needed to log out of Facebook and then log back in.

[20andengagedx38u]

For some reason, iChat didn't update with Lion for me. Gonna see if I can reinstall it.

[jowie]

mprogers, on 22 July 2011 - 10:04 AM, said:

Thanks for the review, it was very helpful. The only point I might take exception to is your characterization of the "Accept paradigm" as bizarre. To me, the idea of automatically starting a chat is like my phone automatically answering -- clearly an unacceptable behavior.

It's just a visual thing anyway. You have no way of knowing what client the person at the other end is using, so when they type a message in their client it'll just open a window... It's exactly the same as not having it.

For me, iChat is still not useful as my one and only client because I know so many people on Windows Live Messenger. I don't know anyone on Yahoo! Messenger. I guess that's more of a UK problem than a US one...

[cmags]

FaceTime was mentioned in this article, and I was wondering if anyone here was having this "problem" - In Snow Leopard, when I was on a FaceTime chat with a friend, I was able to navigate away from the FaceTime and surf, check the calendar and other stuff without pausing my video feed. In LION, for whatever reason, FaceTime pauses itself whenever I navigate away from the app. It's as if the application is FORCING me to stay in the conversation when, sometimes, I use FaceTime for TALKING, not VIDEO CONFERENCING.

[msnight04]

j1h15233, on 22 July 2011 - 09:24 AM, said:

I never knew about the Facebook chat through iChat so I went to try it and it definitely doesn't work. All it does is ask me for my password over and over and I know my password is right.

Facebook does indeed work with iChat. In fact, Facebook has supplied instructions for getting it to work. They can be found at https://www.facebook...tetour/chat.php