iChat AV for Jaguar Discontinued

[MacRumors]

The online Apple Store is no longer selling iChat AV for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar).

iChat AV, Apple's videoconferencing software designed for use with the iSight video camera, is part of Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and was previously available for Jaguar (10.2.5 or later) for $29.95 in the online Apple Store.

Apple's iChat AV page no longer mentions the use of the software under Jaguar and the iChat AV download page states that "Mac OS X v10.3 or later" is the minimum requirement for iChat AV 2.1.

The iSight and iChat AV (as beta software) were introduced in June 2003.

[AoWolf]

Wonder why

[cslewis]

(sigh) poor jaguar users... Seriously, tough, that's pretty bad. I wonder why they dropped iChat AV for Janguar?

EDIT: Apple probably wants people to upgrade... for $129, of course.

[AoWolf]

Originally Posted by mac_head101

(sigh) poor jaguar users... Seriously, that's pretty bad. I wonder why apple didn't let users of jaguar to continue iChat AV? Maybe apple wants people to upgrade in order to stay tech savvy...

Or they want $129

[cslewis]

Originally Posted by AoWolf

Or they want $129

Hey! No fair! You replied before I was done editing my post!

[AoWolf]

Originally Posted by mac_head101

Hey! No fair! You replied before I was done editing my post!

Or you edited after I replied.

[blueBomber]

How well did it sell? Most people I know upgraded to Panther very soon after it was released, so none of them had a use for the $30 ichat AV purchase. Complete lack of sales could be why they stopped producing it.

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by mac_head101

(sigh) poor jaguar users... Seriously, tough, that's pretty bad. I wonder why they dropped iChat AV for Janguar?

EDIT: Apple probably wants people to upgrade... for $129, of course.

I take this as a sign that Tiger may be coming sooner than expected, since Tiger is supposed to contain an updated iChat AV.

[varmit]

Yeah, i don't know why anyone would want to pay 30 bucks for it, when just a little more, you get the whole OS.

[Doctor Q]

I don't see why they didn't let the Jaguar version remain unchanged and available, for a price, even as they improve it and create new versions for Panther and Tiger. There is a cost to stocking it in the brick and mortar stores, but very little to keep it available (maybe just for download, not boxed) online.

Sometimes a discontinued product version turns free (all but the latest versions of Mac OS 7 eventually did), but Apple has not done that often, and making iChat AV free for Panther would have angered those who paid for it.

I conclude that they are doing this to nudge people further toward Panther and Tiger.

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by Doctor Q

I don't see why they didn't let the Jaguar version remain unchanged and available, for a price, even as they improve it and create new versions for Panther and Tiger. There is a cost to stocking it in the brick and mortar stores, but very little to keep it available (maybe just for download, not boxed) online.

Sometimes a discontinued product version turns free (all but the latest versions of Mac OS 7 eventually did), but Apple has not done that often, and making iChat AV free for Panther would have angered those who paid for it.

I conclude that they are doing this to nudge people further toward Panther and Tiger.

I think you got your Mac OS X versions mixed up. Didn't you mean "...and making iChat AV free for Jaguar would have angered those who paid for it"?

[solvs]

Wonder if this means iChat for Windows. Yeah, I know, long shot. But wouldn't it piss people off if you could get it for free on Windows, but had to pay for it for earlier versions for Macs? They're probably just preparing for the new version though. Maybe with Tiger, maybe not. Not Jaguar compatible probably. Wonder if the new version is 10.3 compatible if it comes with Tiger.

Questions, questions. We shall see.

[Doctor Q]

Oops, yes. Sorry. I could fix my typo above, but then your post would look funny, so I'll leave my mistake there and hide my head in shame.

[solvs]

Originally Posted by Doctor Q

Oops, yes. Sorry. I could fix my typo above, but then your post would look funny, so I'll leave my mistake there and hide my head in shame.

Well, either way, I know what you meant.

[harmless]

Remember that iChat AV is going to get a new video codec. I guess they didn't want to (or couldn't for some reason) build a Jaguar version.

And you can't really sell an iChat AV (Jaguar) that is not able to talk to iChat AV (Panther/Tiger) ...

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by harmless

Remember that iChat AV is going to get a new video codec. I guess they didn't want to (or couldn't for some reason) build a Jaguar version.

And you can't really sell an iChat AV (Jaguar) that is not able to talk to iChat AV (Panther/Tiger) ...

Here's the big question - will this new codec be offered to Panther users when Tiger is released with the new iChat AV? It's H.264 in case you didn't know.

[coolfactor]

Originally Posted by wrldwzrd89

Here's the big question - will this new codec be offered to Panther users when Tiger is released with the new iChat AV? It's H.264 in case you didn't know.

Tiger's iChat is backwards-compatible with Panther's, but it won't use the new codec in that case, AFAIK.

[johnnyjibbs]

Interesting. Personally I hope it's iChat AV for Windows. That would help me because I can't currently get AIM 5.5 and iChat AV to play ball and I'd also like to just audio conference. By slipping iChat AV for Jaguar under the carpet and hoping it went away, they may be able to get away with releasing iChat AV for Windows for free without too much of an upset (no-one would pay for it on Windows when there are free alternatives).

However, that also doesn't make sense because iChat now appears to be tightly integrated into the OS. I'd imagine the Tiger-only features will NOT be available to Panther users, even if there was the option to pay.

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

Interesting. Personally I hope it's iChat AV for Windows. That would help me because I can't currently get AIM 5.5 and iChat AV to play ball and I'd also like to just audio conference. By slipping iChat AV for Jaguar under the carpet and hoping it went away, they may be able to get away with releasing iChat AV for Windows for free without too much of an upset (no-one would pay for it on Windows when there are free alternatives).

However, that also doesn't make sense because iChat now appears to be tightly integrated into the OS. I'd imagine the Tiger-only features will NOT be available to Panther users, even if there was the option to pay.

That's to be expected from Apple - but it doesn't matter in my case, since I'm buying Tiger anyway. As far as iChat AV for Windows goes, I don't think Apple could easily make a Windows version (if they did, it would be considerably larger than the Mac version) because it depends on a whole bunch of core Mac OS X components that would need to be recreated on Windows.

[VicMacs]

why do people even install jaguar anymore? if you have it and have not installed ichat av then youre way out of date, and should upgrade to tiger when it comes out, 2 years is enough for an os nowadays

get with it

Seems, logical to upgrade the OS for 129 instead of paying 29 for iChat AV.

Then again I see this as a good thing now Apple can remove those programmers and put them on the panther and tiger team, to speed development and reduce cost.

maybe they are putting the last touches on tiger and starting on 10.5 (lion)

I see this all as a good thing.

[johnnyjibbs]

Originally Posted by VicMacs

why do people even install jaguar anymore? if you have it and have not installed ichat av then youre way out of date, and should upgrade to tiger when it comes out, 2 years is enough for an os nowadays

get with it

I got on fine with Windows 98 until this time last year when I got my PowerBook and we bought a new desktop computer with Windows XP. I must say, Win 98 was a little less stable than XP, but it was easier to use and left you alone to do what you wanted to do (like Mac OS X). It's only this year with my Mac where I've wanted to keep up to date. However, even though I'll buy Tiger (because of curiosity's sake) there's no reason why I would ever really need to upgrade from Panther.

By The Way I don't see Apple porting any more applications to windows, since Longhorn doesn't have a set release date and it keeps changing, Apple would be foolish to invest in developing other application other than iTunes for Windows, too expensive to support, if iChat and iSight seems like a profitable market on the x86 side, they might consider it. However its a slim chance.


Best thing Apple can do now is to keep up the innovation on the SW and HW side they will pull out of the dark. Even a 10-15% market share is good. As long as they remain profitable in other markets music, pro, server they should be fine. :-D

[VicMacs]

Originally Posted by johnnyjibbs

I got on fine with Windows 98 until this time last year when I got my PowerBook and we bought a new desktop computer with Windows XP. I must say, Win 98 was a little less stable than XP, but it was easier to use and left you alone to do what you wanted to do (like Mac OS X). It's only this year with my Mac where I've wanted to keep up to date. However, even though I'll buy Tiger (because of curiosity's sake) there's no reason why I would ever really need to upgrade from Panther.

and 600kb is enough for anybody's lifetime...

[Wonder Boy]

Originally Posted by varmit

Yeah, i don't know why anyone would want to pay 30 bucks for it, when just a little more, you get the whole OS.

if by a little you mean $100, then yes, i agree.