iChat question

Hey all.
I have recently been playing around on my new iMac (which im loving) i tried to have an iChat with my mate! When i signed up for iChat i made a .Mac account which is on 60 day trial! After this trial period will i loose my AIM (AOL instant messenger) access?? Or do i now have that forever to use with iChat?

Also how much does .Mac cost?? dont think i need it, does anyone else use it??

Cheers Paul

You can use iChat with your AOL IM account just fine. When you set up the account, just use the drop-down menu to specify AOL IM instead of .mac (it might say something different, it's been awhile.) You can then use it for as long as AOL stays in business.

i think i have a mac account thats free all i get is that account once the trial is over, was just confused because it said AIM BUDDY LIST and i didnt think i had an AOL one lol! Cheers anyway!