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Apple Announces iChat, AIM-Compatible IM
| Poll: iChat: Would you use it? Total Votes: 30 |
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|---|---|
| You betcha! | 12  |
| No way, Adium/Fire/AIM/ICQ/IRC/CLI’s Talk ROCK! | 11 |
| Humbug! Chatting is for people who like to waste time! | 5 |
| Isn’t this the kind of thing that got Microsoft in trouble? | 2 |
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Apple has officially unveiled iChat, an AIM-compatible instant messaging client built right into Mac OS X. It features controls from the menubar, a new approach to an interface, the ability to chat with Mac.com users, AIM users, and AOL IM users, and cross-integration with Mail and Address Book.
What do you think?
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Editor - The Mac Observer
Favorite (but less relevant than it used to be) Quote: Microsoft’s tyranny lies not in its success, but in the way it achieved and maintains that success.
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Brad Smith
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No way! I’m not sure I like the way Apple is going with iChat. Granted, I love the integration with Mail, but I’m beginning to hate the look and feel of the photos I have seen. We’re talking about the ugly brushed metal interface again, with big, clumsy aqua speech bubbles and full color photos of each person chatting. Can we stay with true aqua and simple text, please?
I’ll take Adium and all of its amazing status indicators any day, but I’ll have to try out iChat come late summer.
Brad
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Brad Smith
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Ahnyer Keester
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Sounds good to me!
The iBook just arrived and I just installed OS X. Looks and feels GREAT. Since I got an Airport card with it was thinking about a chat client. Apple does everything well so I’m expecting big things with iChat. Glad it is AOL compatable (and I’m glad that AOL was forced to open their standards too). Can’t wait to try it.
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I don’t think that AOL was forced to do anything. I see Apple having gone to them and saying “we can use MSNM, or we can use AIM, which would you like it to be?” Mind you, assuming anything like that happened, that’s probably a grossly over-simplified version, and we will probably continue to see other Apple/AOL developments.
In any event, AOL participated with this only because they chose to.
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Editor - The Mac Observer
Favorite (but less relevant than it used to be) Quote: Microsoft’s tyranny lies not in its success, but in the way it achieved and maintains that success.
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Ahnyer Keester
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[quote author=“Bryan”]In any event, AOL participated with this only because they chose to.
Humph. I should have read the entire article. I thought that AOL got hauled into court and the judge decided to make them open their standard. I’ll have to research that one….
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Judging by that picture, I think not.
It almost looks like a parody. I dislike those blasted buddy icons already, and now they want us to use this? I hate to say it, but it almost looks like that stupid comic book looking IRC client that Microsoft put out a few years ago, only more lickable. But who knows, maybe it can be set up to look normal.
I’ll stick with third-party apps, thankyouverymuch.
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Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
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Who the heck made this cheesy poll with not enough choices?
My answer is I would try it. Based on what I see now, I probably wouldn’t keep using it over Adium because I type in whole paragraphs with such chat.
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I’m with x on this one. Those are some pretty awful text bubbles, IMNHO. Lordy.
I am so enamored of the Adium goodness, I might be seeing things a bit skewed, but this interface is what I would have expected from a chat client six or seven years ago. Do I need an image of x136 or Photodan while I’m chatting with them? No. (And that afro might get in the way. :wink: )
Mac users are accustomed to a slick user interface. This is not slick. This is…ooky. It makes me want to launch Adium just to reassure myself that things are OK in the universe.
Someone in another thread mentioned that Apple really needs to stop treating its users like n00bs. May I present exhibit A? AIM chat is already so easy to use, why, in Jaguar, does it have to turn into something an untrained chimpanzee would shun?
Despite the “huzzah!“s the Jaguar announcements gets for nearly everything else, this makes me want to ask for my copy of Jaguar sans iChat.
iCan’tTakeItAnymore.
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Still evil, after all these years.!
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So, with Jaguar, not only will my 3D acceleration harware NOT be supported, but I’ll need a new haircut too??!?
Dang! :evil:-EpDan
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"ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge" - Charles Darwin
What’s the difference between a Mac and a PC? Macs are designed, PCs are assembled.
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David Nelson
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I think it’s nice that they are coming out with iChat, but I don’t like the comic-like talking bubbles or the buddy icons. For me, Adium in single window mode is the ideal AIM interface.
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Curious, I remember an app called “iChat Pager” some years ago - pretty clunky in its best incarnation. Hope they don’t run into trademark issues here.
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Seemed like a good idea at the time
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If you don’t like it, quit bitching and send some feedback to Apple. I seriously doubt that this is the final production version, especially considering Jaguar’s anticipated “late summer” release date.
Apple is one of the few companies who not only listens to customers but will try to implement as many good ideas as possible into their products.
If you want iChat to have a “plain text” mode, then tell them. Bet you $10 it’ll be in the final release.
Oh, and I love how people will get whipped into a frenzy over a single tiny tiny screenshot.
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Oh come on, no one is “bitching” or being “whipped into a frenzy”. We’re discussing.
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Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
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[quote author=“drew”]If you don’t like it, quit bitching and send some feedback to Apple. I seriously doubt that this is the final production version, especially considering Jaguar’s anticipated “late summer” release date.
Apple is one of the few companies who not only listens to customers but will try to implement as many good ideas as possible into their products.
I don’t really consider this bitching. I also don’t think that Apple wants feedback on something that they haven’t yet released. I will send feedback on it, as soon as I have my grubby little paws on it. Until then…well, I reserve the right to pronounce judgement on it based on the one screenshot they released. :razz:
Yes, Apple listens to their customers, and for that I’m thankful. My beloved spring-loaded folders are back in the next release, and they’ve put audio-in back on the Titanium Powerbook. (Let’s just hope they’ve fixed the crap sound problems on the Powerbook as well.)
Sending feedback to Apple right now is a bit premature. Yeah, I hope they’ve got text-only as a preference in iChat, but at this point, I can only say that the interface they’re showing to the world looks like the Untrained Chimp Interface.
Frenzy? You ain’t seen a frenzy. :eg:
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Still evil, after all these years.!
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TMO Observer
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I think that the “chat bubbles” can be turned off. Judging by this image:
The fourth button on the bottom of the shot looks like it toggles the bubbles on and off. Although I might be wrong.
I think that the biggest interface grip is that Apple has forgone their “lickable” Aqua in favor of the “brushed aluminum” look of QuickTime and the iMedia Apps. Bad, bad, bad Apple. :x There is such a thing as the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines . Enough with the aluminum, it was terrible in QT4 and has not gotten better since. Time to eat your own dog food.
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David Nelson
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[quote author=“HOM”]I think that the “chat bubbles” can be turned off. Judging by this image:If that is correct, then I take back what I said about it.
I agree that the brushed metal look is getting used a bit too much for my taste, but at least the widgets are the same.
