So where are the promised iChat plugins?

[joelovesapple]

I recall reading in the Lion features page that there would be iChat plugins - where are they? Will they happen at all?

I'd like to have a one-stop solution for all my IM needs because I hate having Skype for VOIP, Trillian for Windows Live (can't get Yahoo to work on that btw) and Facebook chat. I hate the trillian interface because it looks so bleak. Adium less so.

Hope someone can shed some light. Thank you!

 

[ttttaylor]

here's what i do:

1. Windows Live / MSN - sign up for a Nimbuzz account, then add your Windows Live account to it. then add a Jabber account to iChat for the Nimbuzz account, yourusername(at)nimbuzz(dot)com. the buddy handles will show up kind of weird, like example%example.com(at)live(dot)nimbuzz(dot)com, but everything works just fine.

2. Facebook Chat - just another Jabber account. if you have a custom url, facebook(dot)com/example, then just use example(at)chat(dot)facebook(dot)com as your account name, and your facebook password as the password. if you don't have a custom url, facebook.com/[numbers], then i'm not totally sure how it works.

unfortunately, can't do much about Skype/VOIP. it sucks. i'm totally on the same page as you as far as wanting a one-stop solution with iChat. Adium looks cheap, Trillian looks bleak.


hope this helps!

 

[joelovesapple]

here's what i do:

1. Windows Live / MSN - sign up for a Nimbuzz account, then add your Windows Live account to it. then add a Jabber account to iChat for the Nimbuzz account, yourusername(at)nimbuzz(dot)com. the buddy handles will show up kind of weird, like example%example.com(at)live(dot)nimbuzz(dot)com, but everything works just fine.

2. Facebook Chat - just another Jabber account. if you have a custom url, facebook(dot)com/example, then just use example(at)chat(dot)facebook(dot)com as your account name, and your facebook password as the password. if you don't have a custom url, facebook.com/[numbers], then i'm not totally sure how it works.

unfortunately, can't do much about Skype/VOIP. it sucks. i'm totally on the same page as you as far as wanting a one-stop solution with iChat. Adium looks cheap, Trillian looks bleak.


hope this helps!

Thanks very much for your reply! I forgot to add that I do use the iChat Facebook jabber setup and it works wonderfully well! I just hate having 5 or 6 different chat apps - it's ridiculous. I had to install yahoo official client because it's only implemented on a very basic level in iChat so I believe.

I might try nimbuzz but was hoping I wouldn't have to set up yet another chat account. I wish that there was something in between Adium and Trillian which was both functional, pretty and up to date. I HATE Adium, it's so 2003. When are they going to add video and voice to it? LAst I heard they wanted to get this ready for Leopard but it never happened.

I'm aware that Trillian supports multiple networks, but it is horrendously ugly...

Thanks again!

 

[ttttaylor]

Thanks very much for your reply! I forgot to add that I do use the iChat Facebook jabber setup and it works wonderfully well! I just hate having 5 or 6 different chat apps - it's ridiculous. I had to install yahoo official client because it's only implemented on a very basic level in iChat so I believe.

I might try nimbuzz but was hoping I wouldn't have to set up yet another chat account. I wish that there was something in between Adium and Trillian which was both functional, pretty and up to date. I HATE Adium, it's so 2003. When are they going to add video and voice to it? LAst I heard they wanted to get this ready for Leopard but it never happened.

I'm aware that Trillian supports multiple networks, but it is horrendously ugly...

Thanks again!

totally. i'm pretty particular about interfaces and whatnot, so not only do i want an app that supports all my services, but it's just gotta look good. iChat is perfect to me looks-wise. i used to use Adium and customized it to look close to iChat, but then i lost out on my audio/video capability, which ultimately made me switch back to iChat. and yeah they've been saying for years they're going to add video . i've given up on that.

i know creating MORE! NEW! ACCOUNTS! really sucks, but i made the nimbuzz account ages ago and it's worth it. you can still add MSN/Windows Live buddies to it straight from iChat. you really don't even need the client on your computer after you've set it up.

 

[joelovesapple]

totally. i'm pretty particular about interfaces and whatnot, so not only do i want an app that supports all my services, but it's just gotta look good. iChat is perfect to me looks-wise. i used to use Adium and customized it to look close to iChat, but then i lost out on my audio/video capability, which ultimately made me switch back to iChat. and yeah they've been saying for years they're going to add video . i've given up on that.

i know creating MORE! NEW! ACCOUNTS! really sucks, but i made the nimbuzz account ages ago and it's worth it. you can still add MSN/Windows Live buddies to it straight from iChat. you really don't even need the client on your computer after you've set it up.

Oh hey thanks for that - looks like you and I see eye to eye on this subject! I'll try that out as suggested

 

[joelovesapple]

Oh hey thanks for that - looks like you and I see eye to eye on this subject! I'll try that out as suggested

You can't add from Nimbuzz, I can't see how you'd do that... wtf?

 

[joelovesapple]

Apologies for the triple post - I was dunce enough to have to look it up on Youtube but it's working perfectly now - finally ditched horrible Trillian! Kept Skype though, .

Thanks again you've been a huge help! Still keeping an eye out for those plugins though!