iChat... aybody like it?
 

Seems like it doesn't let you view pictures that people drag into their chat window...

And how do I view peoples' profiles? "Get Info" doesn't do it.

I like iChat... a lot. I don't know about viewing profiles, but dropping photo files (jpegs and such) into the box where you write your text has always sent the image in the conversation for me.

iChat does what it was designed to do quite well, IMO. No. It doesn't let you substitute a photo for a video. It wasn't designed to.

To view the info about a person, double click their entry in the list. Of course, this is pretty much the info you have in your Address book, but iChat wasn't designed to be a gimmick, like AIM, but as one part of the iTools set.

I too like iChat, but end up using icq cause not many friends own/use Macs or have an aim acc. :(

i like ichat as well alot too. as far as viewing jpegs in ichat that also works for me too. i dont know why you can't view profiles but i can by hitting command(apple)-i. that works for me just fine. only gripe is moving icons. you need a third party app to use them which is lame. where as in other IM programs its built in. aslo file transfers are really slow (for me at least) 5-15kbs weak. skype does transfers at like 40-50kbs a sec. but not everyone has skype though. all in all i love ichat as well just needs tightened up a little bit. still the only im service ill use on my mac :)

I am new to mac but I really like the iChat program -- still getting used to the slight differences between the PC (work) and iBook (personal) I use with AIM.

You can view AIM profiles fine.

Select a buddy, get info, then on the "show" pulldown menu select thier name rather then address card. You will then be able to see thier AIM profile.

Sending images also works fine. Just drag into the box. You run into troublr when the AIM user is using one of the million out of date versions of AIM instead of the latest.

I don't know what your talking about with the icons though.

iChat is OK, but I prefer AdiumX since I chat with a mix of Yahoo Messenger and AIM buddies. This way I can do it all in one very nice program.

So THAT's the problem.

I used to just hit command G or I on my G3. This one was only giving me the address card. So I gotta hit "show"...

Right :D

Adium is alright, but iChat's interface is WAAAY to pretty for me to give it up.

I love the simplicity of iChat, but it doesn't have tabbed conversation's and after using Adium X I'm so used to tabbed windows I find it very annoying to switch windows. My screen is only 1024x768, but I guess on a larger screen I could have all the iChat windows lined up next to each other.

I also have the problem that all my friends hate the windows AIM program, so they refuse to use it. So we're all on MSN, which sucks as its a bit temperamental atm.

I do make use of iChat's video/audio chat with my best mate (he has an iMac G5) fairly often. Its like a phone call, but free!!

I use iChat primarily because I audio and video chat on a fairly regular basis with my parents, sister, grandma, and other family members. The fact that the audio/video conferencing is integrated with my regular chat program is nice, not to mention all of the drag-and-drop functionality.

My biggest complaint about iChat is really more of a complaint about the closed nature of the AIM protocol - I've run into some weird incompatibilities between iChat and gaim in particular when it comes to doing anything other than exchanging plaintext IMs.

It would also be awesome if iChat was pluginizable. One feature that I would love to have would be GPG-encrypted IMs, so I could exchange sensitive info like passwords or financial information without having to make a long-distance phone call.

iChat is nice and reliable, but very restricted when it comes to doing any sort of customization whatsoever. I prefer Adium X also, since it is multi-protocol, extremely customizable, and less boring that iChat ;)

Gaim is the way to go on PC
 

Tell your friends to switch to Gaim (http://gaim.sourceforge.net). It's an open-source windows/*nic client for AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Jabber, IRC, Napster, GroupWise, Lotus, and Zephyr. I love it on my PC. It's the only client I will use besides the ones on my Mac (I use iChat for my small buddy list, and AdiumX for my large list).

They use the default apps and don't like installing others annoyingly :(

Tis ok, I wouldn't use iChat even if they were on AIM, but thanks for the advice anyway.

I have been asked this a bunch and can't quite figure it out, I have this problem too so I will speak from my P.O.V. I used to have a pc with AIM and had a profile, I now have and LOVE my mac and I use iChat, how can I keep/set my AIM profile??

You can't. This is one of the restrictions i was talking about earlier. Try Adium X or if you want to try the latest beta (much changed from 0.77), go here

iNemo, AIM isn't installed by default on PC's...

Yeah, thanks to everyone who suggested Adium X. I was using clunky, stupid MSN IM for all my MSN buddies. Adium X is much better; clean and very customizable. Thanks again.

There is a thing called iprofile on macupdate or version tracker or one of those sites.

Yeah but its the default AIM program I was meaning. Think I just converted my girlfriend across to AIM as msn is so unreliable atm :D

Sending images is practically impossible with older-version AIM friends. It sucks!

Maybe if I download AIM for Mac? Or would that be the same problem??

It might be the same problem... it might work. I would lean towards it being the same problem. There are reasons AOL releases new versions of AIM ;-) Tell your friends to update... it's easy and free.