Text, Audio, or Video Chat

iChat AV requires a buddy name and a computer with Mac OS x installed. The buddy name can be your .Mac account name (remember, anyone can get a trial membership for free and then keep the name), your AOL buddy name (if you have an AOL account), or an AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) buddy name that you can get, free, at the AIM web site (www.AIM.com).

Tip

A .Mac member's instant messaging name includes @mac.com.

An AIM or AOL instant messaging name does not include @ anything.

The various ways to use iChat have varying requirements:

• Text chat. Text messaging needs only a low bandwidth connection, as low as a dial-up modem.

• Audio chat. An audio chat requires a broadband connection (such as cable, DSL, or Wi-Fi) and a microphone (all recent Mac laptops have built-in microphones).

• Video conference. A video conference requires a broadband connection, such as cable, DSL, or Wi-Fi. It also requires a FireWire-enabled video camera.

  Apple's iSight camera, available from the Apple site is small, compact, inexpensive, and includes a built-in microphone. The MacBook Pro laptops have iSight cameras built in.

All current Apple laptops are equipped to handle audio and video chats. If you plan to chat with people on desktop computers, the desktop computer needs to be at least a G3 with a 600 MHz processor for audio or video conferencing.

Clues in Your Buddy List

We have to assume that iChat is set up and functioning. Your Buddy List, shown below, gives you an instant clue as to what kind of chat you can do with that person, so you don't have to worry about all those technical specs to find out. If you don't have anyone in your Buddy List yet, see the following pages.

If you need help setting up iChat, please see Cool Mac Apps, or the iChat Help files (from the Help menu when iChat is open), or the tutorials on the Apple.com site.

• No icon. This buddy can only use text messages to chat.

• Phone icon. This buddy has a microphone attached or built in and can use text or audio to chat.

• Multiple-phone icon. This buddy has a system powerful enough to support an audio chat with more than one person.

• Camera icon. The buddy has a video camera attached and can use text, audio, or video to chat.

• Multiple-camera icon. The buddy has a big ol' machine and a multiple-person video chat is possible, as well as text and audio.

Green orb. The buddy is online and you can start a chat with her.

Amber orb. The buddy is online, but his computer is idle, meaning he's probably been away from it for a bit.

Red orb. The buddy has chosen to be unavailable and doesn't want to be disturbed, even though he's online.

Tip

The dimmed buddies at the bottom of the list are offline and unavailable

To hide offline buddies, go to the View menu and uncheck "Show Offline Buddies."

Quick Start

If you're set up and you've got some buddies in your list, try these tips below.

• Double-click the buddy name and iChat will initiate a text chat.

• Single-click the media icon (the phone or camera) and iChat will initiate the kind of chat indicated by the icon.

• To initiate a specific kind of chat, Single-click on a buddy's name, then click one of the chat buttons at the bottom of the window.

• Control-click a buddy name, then choose a chat option from the contextual menu that opens.