# How can my PC friends see me with iChat AV?



## Hydroglow (Aug 8, 2003)

I don't know anyone else with a mac and I want to talk to my friends back home but they own a PC. How do I go about doing this?


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## Arden (Aug 9, 2003)

Wait a year or so for PC-based chat services to catch up, as iChat AV is only available to people with Macs right now.  No one else has anything like this; AIM has audio chat, but not video chat.


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## bobw (Aug 9, 2003)

You would need a program available both for Macs and PCs, like ISPQ 

Works fairly well, but not nearly as good as iChatAV.

Apple may port iChatAV to windows when the final version is released. Keep everything crossed


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## AlanBDahl (Aug 9, 2003)

iVisit and Yahoo! messenger will also let you video chat with your PC buddies. Neither works anywhere near as well as iChat AV though.

I suspect at some point AIM will add video chat capability but unless your buddies have a FireWire webcam it won't look as nice anyway.


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## Hydroglow (Aug 9, 2003)

Thanks


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## Arden (Aug 9, 2003)

Your friends could always come over, then you could show off iChat... they would see you with it in that case.


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## Ripcord (Aug 10, 2003)

I think the point is that we were promised interoperability because iChat uses "standard, open protocols".  Is there currently any interoperability, and what protocols does it use?  H.323?  Some kind of streaming MPEG?  What?


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## Arden (Aug 10, 2003)

Without a working copy of Panther, I couldn't tell you.  Watch the WWDC keynote and see if Steve Jobs mentions it.


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## Ripcord (Aug 17, 2003)

Why do you need Panther?  IChat AV itself isn't enough?


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## Arden (Aug 17, 2003)

Because I don't have a computer with OS X that goes online, so I would have no use for iChat AV in itself.  When it comes with Panther, I will check it out because I can use Panther offline.


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## bobw (Aug 17, 2003)

Yes, you can use Panther offline, but not iChatAV.


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## MacFreak (Aug 24, 2003)

What I understand that FCC approved to allow AOL to build Video Conference on AIM. I am sure that Apple and AOL will work closer to enable to allow iChat av and AIM AV connect. Just wait and see that will happened in 2004


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## Arden (Aug 24, 2003)

Bob: exactly.

I just wish Apple would make iChat compatible with other services, although this might theoretically make AOL compatible with those services, which AOL for whatever reason is dead set against.  Imagine: you wouldn't be limited to who you could talk to because of service compatibility, you would just be limited to what interface and features you would have.


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## Jason (Aug 27, 2003)

ive been hearing that aol and msn might be opening up their services to talk to each other, although that was just a news blurb i saw about 2 weeks ago.

in either case, like said previously, even if there was a pc solution it would need to be either firewire or usb 2.0 (i assume theoretically that would work) for it to look nearly as good, and they would obviously need broadband to see your video at full speed/quality.


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## Ripcord (Aug 28, 2003)

> _Originally posted by arden _
> *Bob: exactly.
> 
> I just wish Apple would make iChat compatible with other services, although this might theoretically make AOL compatible with those services, which AOL for whatever reason is dead set against.  Imagine: you wouldn't be limited to who you could talk to because of service compatibility, you would just be limited to what interface and features you would have. *



I don't get it.  What does any of this (including Panther) have to do with using iChat AV offline?  You can't use iChat offline.  You can't use iVisit offline.  You can't use NetMeeting, MS Messenger, Yahoo, etc offline...  You usually make a lot of sense so I'm probably just not getting it.


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## Arden (Aug 28, 2003)

What I'm saying is that I have no _need_ for iChat AV because the only computer I have that has OS X is my iMac, which doesn't have a pipeline to the WWW.  Actually, that's not true anymore; my dad got a new G4 with DSL and 10.2, but it's at his place.  So I'm saying there's no reason for me to download iChat AV because I have no use for it, but I can get Panther because I don't need to be online to use it.

My most recent post had nothing to do with that.  I was saying... well, read it again for what I was saying.


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