AOL Instant Messaging [Archive]

cynicgirl24

Jul 30, 2004, 08:16 PM

TreeHugger

Jul 30, 2004, 08:20 PM

AOL instant messaging works very well on mac. It runs over iChat, which is really nice, since no ads are displayed. And with an iSight you can easily video chat.

In short, AOL instant messaging works just as good as on windows (maybe even better) and surly looks a lot better.

Cadence

Jul 30, 2004, 09:02 PM

one thing I wish ichat had was tabbed windows. dead aim for the PCs have all the chat windows tabbed in one window...nice and clean. Hopefully the new ichat adapts to this.

stoid

Jul 30, 2004, 09:29 PM

Get Adium.

themadchemist

Jul 30, 2004, 10:07 PM

As an art student, your son will be glad he's got a Mac. At least, that's what I hear from all the fine arts people I know. I'm a hard science student, and I'm still glad I have a Mac.

FredAkbar

Jul 30, 2004, 11:17 PM

I agree with stoid, try out Adium (http://www.adiumx.com). I like it a lot more than iChat--it has tabbed windows, much customizability (including an awesome new contact list in the next version), and support for not only AIM but MSN, Yahoo, and other less popular services.

To be fair, other AIM clients (alternatives to the official one (http://www.aim.com), that is) include Proteus (http://www.proteusx.com) and Fire (http://fire.sf.net). Adium and Fire are open-source and free (official AIM is free as well), while Proteus is $15 shareware.

cynicgirl24

Jul 31, 2004, 10:21 AM

A couple of the responders said to get Adium and Ichat. I don't know what those are. Software? Do you purchase separately.

Bluefusion

Jul 31, 2004, 10:41 AM

They're separate programs, but as someone already posted, Adium and Fire are free--no strings attached. Proteus is supposed to be a paid program but the development has been kind of stopped on that for a while--so I don't think paying for it is much of a requirement yet (it works fine without it).

I hate the official AIM client with a passion. Don't use it; if you need its features such as file transfer, use Apple's iChat, bundled with every Mac. If you just want a great, streamlined interface for chatting, use Adium.

I'm not a big Fire or Proteus fan, but give them both a shot to see what works for you.

bluebull

Jul 31, 2004, 11:02 AM

A couple of the responders said to get Adium and Ichat. I don't know what those are. Software? Do you purchase separately.
I recommend starting out with iChat. It will be included with the computer, preinstalled, and will be in the dock when you first turn it on. It also supports easy-to-use audio and video messaging, which you can learn more about here (http://www.apple.com/ichat/).

cynicgirl24

Jul 31, 2004, 02:54 PM

If my son's computer has ICHAT and all his friends use aol instant messaging, doesn't he have to download AOL instant messaging to talk to them. Does Ichat talk to AIM?

Calvinatir

Jul 31, 2004, 03:04 PM

If my son's computer has ICHAT and all his friends use aol instant messaging, doesn't he have to download AOL instant messaging to talk to them. Does Ichat talk to AIM?

iChat talks to AIM...

bluebull

Jul 31, 2004, 03:17 PM

iChat is an AIM client, so it is perfectly compatable with PC's running AIM.

FredAkbar

Jul 31, 2004, 03:39 PM

Same for Fire, Adium, Proteus, etc. They are all AIM clients (they're also MSN clients, Yahoo clients, etc., but that's not relevant here). The only advantage to using the official AIM client (meaning, the one that is actually made by the AOL corporation) is that you get the latest features (none of which you really need), though that's only really true on Windows. The Mac OS X version of the official AIM client has sucked for years and has always been behind the Windows version in features.

By the way, a note to anyone trying out Adium: if you come across something called Adium 1.6 or so, that's the older version. Adium X .63 (despite the lower version number) is the current release. Basically "Adium" is the old Adium, and "Adium X (http://www.adiumx.com)" is the new one.

themadchemist

Jul 31, 2004, 05:28 PM

AIen

Aug 4, 2004, 05:07 PM

all of these clients (AIM, iChat, Adium) will fit the bill and your son will figure out at his leisure which one he prefers. They're all free, so he'll have plenty of opportunities to compare and contrast them to figure out which one best suits his needs and preferences.

correct me if i'm wrong but I don't think any of the other clients other than the offical AIM Client can send pictures through AIM via Direct Connect.

Bluefusion

Aug 4, 2004, 05:11 PM

It's done all the time through iChat. iChat is an officially-sanctioned AIM clone and as such has most (but not quite all) of its features.

ravenvii

Aug 4, 2004, 05:56 PM

IMing pictures with iChat (at least to another user using AIM) is very buggy. It does work, but not 100%. This bug came from the way iChat handles direct connecting. I'm waiting for Apple to fix this bug for a long time.

wPod

Aug 4, 2004, 07:16 PM

iChat rocks. ive never had any problems with it. the only thing it doesnt do is creating a profile. i havent had any troubles with transfering files, unless someone was on a slow network connection then it never really worked. also using other interfaces like adium or fire i encountered problems with sharing pictures or transfering files.

to answer your initial question yes it will work with AIM (AOL even makes a program to do everything exactly the same as a windows machine, but you get the exact same adds which i cant stand)

i think its a matter of personal preferance as to which one you (or ultimatly your son) will chose.

ravenvii

Aug 4, 2004, 07:45 PM

I never had problems transferring files (as in Sent Buddy File...). It's the instant messaging of pictures over a direct connection that causes problems. Basically, in my case at least, if I sent over a picture, the other user has to accept direct connect. Well, sometimes after s/he accepts the connection, the picture doesn't get through, and I had to send the picture again. And in inverse, if s/he requests for a direct connectiong with me, iChat just spits errors at me, and I had to close the window and re-initate the conversation by sending a random picture to her/him so we could direct connect.

It's all weird stuff. Good thing I don't really use picture IMing much, since otherwise I love iChat.

(This post is technical, and probably doesn't matter one bit to the original poster. Sorry for derailing the thread :) )

rock6079

Aug 5, 2004, 03:24 PM

My son will be an art student next year in college. Most of his art courses the first two years are not computer based and we are trying to figure out what is the best computer to buy for him. Ultimately we will get him a Mac but I was wondering if AOL instant messaging works on a MAC and how well it works.

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.

probably the best messenger available for the mac since it is pretty much intergrated into the system with apples own version of AOL called iChat, its absolutely awsome

Capt Underpants

Aug 22, 2004, 10:35 AM

I hate iChat. I ended up downloading the official AIM because iChat doesn't have those nifty profiles.

t300

Aug 30, 2004, 01:34 AM

I hate iChat. I ended up downloading the official AIM because iChat doesn't have those nifty profiles.

Yes, they do. Oh wait, I guess you can't make one can you? But you can view them.

Bluefusion

Aug 30, 2004, 10:03 AM

I hate iChat. I ended up downloading the official AIM because iChat doesn't have those nifty profiles.
You downloaded the hideous, ad-supported bloated OFFICIAL AIM CLIENT because it didn't have custom profiles?

Please, please, PLEASE download Adium at Adiumx.com... it does not yet have file transfer, but it does everything iChat doesn't do, and looks great.

musicpyrite

Aug 30, 2004, 10:36 AM

I hate iChat. I ended up downloading the official AIM because iChat doesn't have those nifty profiles.

I donwnloaded the official AIM, set my profile, then deleted it and went back to using iChat. :D

5300cs

Sep 4, 2004, 06:39 AM

As an art student, your son will be glad he's got a Mac. At least, that's what I hear from all the fine arts people I know.

I was an art student- graphic design & illustration. The labs were all B&W G3s (this was 1999-2000) and the only peecees were in the administrative offices, safely away from the public ;)

Seriously though, a Mac is the best choice. I wouldn't dream of using a pc for design.

sushi

Sep 4, 2004, 06:50 AM

I wouldn't dream of using a pc for design.
More like a nightmare I would think! :D

Sushi

5300cs

Sep 4, 2004, 06:56 AM

Yeah sorry, that was a typo on my part :D

I love it when people say DTP or design work is no sweat on a pc :rolleyes:

Kingsnapped

Sep 4, 2004, 10:05 AM

I donwnloaded the official AIM, set my profile, then deleted it and went back to using iChat. :D

Your profile goes away after you close the client. If you really care about a profile (not sure why you would), switch to adium. After getting it, the only time I to back to iChat is for file transfer.

To the poster: Get the Mac and let your boy work it out. He'll start using iChat, and if he wants to upgrade, he'll figure it out. Macs are pretty foolproof when it comes to installing/uninstalling new programs.

palusami

Dec 3, 2004, 04:54 PM

You downloaded the hideous, ad-supported bloated OFFICIAL AIM CLIENT because it didn't have custom profiles?

Please, please, PLEASE download Adium at Adiumx.com... it does not yet have file transfer, but it does everything iChat doesn't do, and looks great.

yeah, if there's one thing that annoys me is the frickin' ads that pop up or the ads that are a part of the AIM interface. i like ichat much more because of the clean interface and its ease of use. only time i use aim is when i'm at work, which is windows based.