Thanks to iChat AV, videoconferencing has gone mainstream, and it’s surprising that the other IM programs haven’t caught on yet. File transfers are a breeze you can send files by dragging a file and dropping it on a contact’s name in your buddy list or on a message field. iChat AV’s real-time spelling checker keeps typos at bay, and Rendezvous support lets you send messages to other users on your local network without connecting to the wider Internet. Because iChat AV is tied into Apple’s Mail and Address Book, all your Address Book contacts are accessible within iChat, and you can tell when your iChat buddies are logged on when you’re working in Mail or Address Book. IChat users will also benefit from the program’s OS X integration. (iChat AVeven lets you use Apple Speech to announce new messages from particular contacts.) I can use my iSight Web cam to take a snapshot of myself for a custom buddy icon I’ve set up special audio alerts that tell me when a specific friend, family member, or coworker signs on and I regularly set custom status messages, a task that is, by far, easiest to do in iChat. I continue to be amazed at all the ways I can customize iChat AV.
#ADIUM YAHOO MESSENGER MAC#
It takes advantage of the AIM protocol to give Mac users access to everyone on that system and to people on the. iChat AV 2.1Īpple’s iChat AV picks up where AIM leaves off, offering an even greater degree of customization, as well as unmatched audio and video capabilities. Overall, AIM is a good application with a vast network of users, but it wasn’t the best program of the four I looked at. And although AOL gave AIM a nice Aqua makeover, the effect is negated by the unattractive animated advertisements embedded in buddy lists.
The scrolling news and stock tickers are a nuisance (fortunately, they can be turned off). Although AIM 5.5 for Windows lets Windows users set up video chats, the Mac version still limits users to text-only messaging.
#ADIUM YAHOO MESSENGER FREE#
Every AOL subscriber has an account if you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up for a free screen name that you can use with the AIM software.īut AIM has its drawbacks.
Walk into any Internet café in the world, and AIM will probably be the chat program you’ll find.
#ADIUM YAHOO MESSENGER SOFTWARE#
The software is nearly ubiquitous on new computers, cell phones, and PDAs. And the company’s instant-messaging platform, AIM, remains the most widely used service and the de facto standard. Years ago, America Online was the first to provide easy-to-use Internet chat, with its popular chat rooms. And Ifound that iChat AV 2.1 can really do it all for most Mac users-as long as they have a $100. I evaluated the four major chat applications for the Mac: America Online’s AOL Instant Messenger 4.7 (AIM), Apple’s iChat AV 2.1, Microsoft’s MSN Messenger 4.0.1, and Yahoo’s Yahoo Messenger 2.5.3. It’s easy to think that all IM programs are the same, but depending on how you want to talk-and with whom-there are some differences. With e-mail systems overloaded by spam, always-on Internet connections on PDAs and cell phones becoming the norm, and superfast communication in vogue, your instant-messaging (IM) application may be as important-and as personal-as your e-mail software.
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