Ralph Johns

iChat Information Pages

iChat Icon

iChat

These pages are about iChat.

They consist of old info about iChat 1, 2 (AV), 3 as well as new stuff about the latest incarnation, iChat 5.

The info in these pages has been somewhat reorganized. I hope to make sure that things are grouped in a more logical order to explain somewhat how iChat has got from iChat (ver 1) though to the current iChat 5.x.x

The Menu at the top will contain everything but may change from page to page.

Historical Document

These pages have sat here since 2008 with no update. In that time the AIM servers have been closed down (2017) and iChat has been superseded by Messages. That effectively make this a sort of Historical Document of how it worked.

I will make attempts to renew and refresh Links to either the most current site or use the Way Back Machine Archive so that people can at least look at what was used. I will make Edit Notes on this and on those where I can find no link to replace the older one as I go through the document.

iChat In Pictures >> You are in Folder Start Up Screens >> iChat Account Entry Screen.
House as Up one Level icon Back Arrow icon Next page Arrow icon 2[5] 02 iChat Screen Name Entry 02-10-2006
iChat Account Entry Screen

iChat Account Enrty Screen

This is the Screen from your main Screen Name (AIM Login).

It can be an AIM name (See middle drop down on yours) or as this shows @mac.com (It can also be @me.com for a MobileMe now now) In either case you do not need to add the @blah blah Suffix as AIM does not need it and this @mac.com/@me.com is added by the software. The Drop Down will change to look lke this.

MobileMe drop down

There can be problems if the "Real Names" added don't match what you have in your Address Book at the Me Card.

The "Get iChat Account" button was a link to Apple for an account/screen name. If you have done the MobileMe update it will take you to MobileMe. If it still lists @mac.com here it is likely to redirect you anyway.

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Created with JAlbum 4.0.6

©  2005 Ralph Johns: Edited 24/9/2005, 5/5/2006
Updated September 2006
Major Update, Review and Edit moving towards HTML 5 compliance. November 2024

Information Block

This site is about iChat from Version 1 through to iChat 5.x.x
It has had a major Edit in September 2024 moving towards being HTML 5 complaint. It has essentially become an Historical document on how things could be done in iChat.

It has a mixture of basic info and problem solving help.

The setions below will change for Specifics about info on the page on view

About This Page

The picture from iChat 3 for entering your AIM or Apple Screen Name.

As discussed elsewhere Apple have dropped the .Mac service for the newer MobileMe service and your drop down on this page may reflect that based either a later OS or an Update Apple issued that worked back as far as iChat 2 (OS X 10.3.x).

iChat can only go and get an Apple ID/Screen Name if you do not have one. In all other cases such as AIM for this Screen and Jabber on a later one - for iChat 3 and 4 - you need to have got an ID first. You can enter a New Account/Screen Name to iChat later.

Compatibility

As mentioned above this has had a Major Edit/Update in September 2024 meaning that the Browsers listed at the bottom are likely to no longer work.

I have tested in Safari 18.1, Firefox 130.x and 131.0, Vivaldi 6.9.3447.48 and iCab 6.2.3 (All Mac Browsers) I don't have access to a PC let alone multiple browsers to test on.

The original pages worked with Win/IE 5.5 and later (should work in 5.0, but not confirmed), Firefox 2, Safari 3, Opera 9, iCab 3.02 and later, Mac/IE 5, Netscape 6 and later

Old browsers (IE version 4 or earlier, Netscape 4 or earlier) should only see a text-based page which, while not the prettiest option, is still entirely usable.

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