Bonjour | Macs on the Go

iChat isn't just for Road Warriors who are away from home. Sometimes you need to communicate or share files with someone in your home or in the office down the hall, or you need to send files from your desktop Mac to your laptop in preparation for a business trip.

Bonjour is the local area network version of iChat. If you have two or more Macs connected through a local area network (Ethernet, wireless, or a combination of both), Bonjour automatically detects and connects all of the computers on the local network.

You can send files or instant text messages to Bonjour buddies. You can also conduct audio or video chats with others on the local network if a microphone or digital video camera is connected to your Mac.

To use Bonjour, you don't need a .Mac account or an AIM account, as required to use iChat on the Internet. iChat (which automatically includes Bonjour) must be installed on all computers that you want to connect to, Bonjour must be turned on (see the opposite page), and the computers must be connected through some sort of network.

To set up Bonjour:

Open iChat.

Go to the Window menu and choose "Bonjour."

If Bonjour is enabled, well, there you are.

If Bonjour is not enabled, you will be asked if you want to log in. Click "Login" and there you are.

Tip

If you're in a public space with a wireless connection, such as an Internet cafe, you should quit iChat/Bonjour when you're not using it to safeguard your privacy and security.

Bonjour automatically goes about its job of detecting other iChat users on your local network, so when you're ready to chat or send files, the other user only has to be notified.

Using Bonjour

Just about everything that applies to iChat (described on the previous pages) also applies to Bonjour. Remember, iChat connects to buddies through the Internet, and Bonjour connects to buddies who are on your local network otherwise, text chats, audio chats, video chats, and file sharing look and work the same as in iChat.

In fact, sometimes it's easy to lose track of which application you're using, iChat or Bonjour. To see which one you're using, look at the top of a message window for a line of gray type.

Bonjour Account Information

If you need to enable or disable Bonjour, or if you want to change any of the settings, you can do so at any time.

To change the Bonjour preferences:

1.	Open iChat, then go to the iChat menu and choose "Preferences..."
2.	Click the "Accounts" button in the tool bar of the preferences window.
3.	Click the "Bonjour" item in the Accounts pane on the left to display its "Account Information" on the right.
4.	To turn on Bonjour, check "Use Bonjour Instant Messaging." To disable Bonjour, uncheck the box.