ichat question

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season!


Longtime PC convert to an Apple in the last two weeks..can't believe I did not do it sooner! I have an 27" imac i5 and bought my wife a 13.5" macbook as well. She is in Or for a few months and I am in Atlanta. Want to use ichat to talk to her.

She use AOL and has access to AIM. Can I setup a gmail account and use googletalk if she sets up ichat with AIM?

OR since we are both using Apples, does ichat have a default in an of itself with using an external account to take advantage of ichat?

PArdon my ignorance, but hard to get a grasp on the simplicity of Apple software after $#&&$# with PC's for so many years!! It may be so simple I am missing something, but if we both can use something like a gmail account then googletalk if better than ichat default, not a problem.

I see know why Apple users are such a passionate bunch!!

Thanks much,

Dale

I'm not sure about the AIM account or Google talk, but what will work very well is a Skype account. If you're both on Skype you can use iChat with your web cams to talk to and see each other. LINK to Skype.

Regards.

You have to both be using iChat on the same network for video or audio. Either one will do, but you have to pick one to be able to find one another.

Skype works, too (though then you'll both need Skype accounts....) The quality is not as good, and you can't do more-than-two-party video chats, but Skype is more tolerant of lower-speed connections.

Since she already has an AIM account that would seem to be the easiest to work with. Either of the following options should work:
1. Get a free AIM account for yourself AIM FAQ. I think those can still be used with iChat.
2. If you sign up for the trial of .Mac I believe those screen names remain functional even if you choose not to continue the rest of the .Mac services. Apple - MobileMe - Your iPhone, Mac, and PC. In perfect sync. Perhaps someone else can verify whether that is still true. I've had mine for a while so I am not sure.

You both can also get trial accounts of MobileMe and get your *.mac or *.me account names and use iChat directly. You keep those names even if you don't continue with MobileMe after the 30 day free trial. That would be "easiest" IMO because iChat would "just work" when you opened it.

For my non-Mac friends/family, I use Skype because it is very easy to set up and use. Trying to use AIM and iChat, I found, is not that easy.

Technologist: does iChat allow more than 2 party VC? I thought that was a limitation on all "free" VC methods (some of the expensive VC faciliators out there allow multiparty VC).