why use iChat?

I use it all the time. Bonjour messaging to secretaries, and video chatting with family over AOL. Screen sharing, sending text messages if I don't want to use my phone, etc. It works, and it is preinstalled. And it doesn't take my bandwidth by secretly turning my computer into a supernode relay (Skype anyone?)

 

It's a matter of personal choice I suppose. Personally, the only chat kinda service I use is IRC I'm still in the dinosaur age!

 

Why not?

 

I don't know. I have never try it. Audium + Skype is perfect for me.
Plus I don't know anyone without out msn to try it.

 

I use it all the time; once I have an iChat connection up it's just one click on my side and one click on their side so I can see and control their screen.

Works great for "help desk" situations.

 

iChat uses the cross-platform standard AOL Instant Messenger and Jabber services. Either one will work with clients using Windows PC's, most notably through AIM for Windows, which will support audio and video chat in addition to text chat (though not some of iChat's more advanced features such as multi-party video chat and iChat Theater, which allows you to share documents, pictures, and video directly within the chat window).

jW

 

I'm not too sure but stay away from it if you want to have children.

 

you can also use Facebook chat in iChat using Jabber. pretty useful as lots of people use Facebook IM these days (as much as i hate it) but its not a supported service in iChat, Facebook just opened a jabber server.
also iChat is just great to use with lots of nice tucked away animations and integrates with the OS very nicely like any other included app.

 

I use it because it does what i need (and want) google talk & facebook chat, plus I like having the 2 accounts in 2 seperate windows

 

screen sharing with dual interaction, super fast data transfers, thats why.

 

I still remember my IRC number from 1996. When I moved away from my hometown, this was how my Mom and I communicated. It was so futuristic back then. If only she could see what we do now!

Cosmo

 

I generally use iChat for screen sharing or video conferencing, Adium for everything else.

It's nicely done, I just like the flexibility of Adium.

 

Your original question was ill posed though. Let's say I have a Mac, and an elderly friend has a Mac. iChat is already installed on his computer, it integrates into his address book, and he can find the app icon easily. In that case, the question would not be 'why' but 'why not'.

If you want specific examples of the various strengths and weaknesses of an application, you should at least provide a use-case by which the software can be weighted.

 

With the arrival of FaceTime on the Mac and the popularization of texting, I rarely use iChat those days. But I still sign on to my Google Talk account occasionally to help friends/family with computer stuff through screen sharing.

 

"Skype (www.skype.com) is a free P2P (peer to peer) application that provides free voice-over-IP communication over the Internet. Skype calls are routed across the Skype network through other Skype systems, called SuperNodes. Any system running the Skype application runs the risk of surreptitiously being elevated to the status of SuperNode. Computers with a fast connection to Internet, combined with high speed CPU, are most likely to become SuperNodes. A SuperNode can generate a considerable amount of traffic by opening a large number of concurrent connections for off-site systems, even after the local user has discontinued using the Skype application on his system. Generally, the user needs to reboot his system to stop the SuperNode call-routing activity."

Also, iChat is cross-platform, but I think someone else has already stated that.

 

I use iChat b/c lots of my friends aren't really savvy with Adium, plus it lets me video chat w/ folks w/o hassling with Gmail's interface.

 

Haha, there's a few IRC 'communities' that are still very much alive and kicking, like the various Wikipedia channels (I sometimes try and help out on the site), TWiT (discussion during shows and stuff) and this very forum's IRC channel! There's still quite a lot of users out there. It's simple and works well for basic text-only chat.

 

+1 Also, iChat video conferencing works well, works with EVERY IMing service I want to use, facebook, gtalk, any other federated jaber domain, aim, icq, random people near-by (bonjour.) Sure, it doesn't really work with MSN, yahoo, or Skype but I don't use those.

Adium stagnated and hasn't really been worked on in about a year and a half. lack of video/audio chat and poor file transfer support kind of killed it, (for me anyway.)

 

I use it to video chat with my wife when I travel. She has a Macbook Pro and Skype doesn't work with my new Air. iChat works great for that purpose.

 

i love ichat.
it feels really native, and never crashes for me.
also, the video chat works really well.

i use it for aim, google talk, and facebook chat.

my first gripe is that it doesn't support msn or skype, both of which i would use if they were supported. slowing down my system by having msn and skype open (both applications that i find extremely ugly and unenjoyable to use) isn't worth it to me.

my second gripe is that you can't combine your buddy lists into one window. seems like this shouldn't have ever been a problem. maybe one day they'll fix it.

all that said, it's my preferred chat client 'til the bitter end.

 

I use iChat for MSN, AIM....haven't thought about using it for facebook chat, may look into that.