[kj1983]

Is there any way to message between Macs on the network without downloading any software/application?

Or so.. Can PC message to Macs on the network?

[himself]

Originally posted by kj1983:
Is there any way to message between Macs on the network without downloading any software/application?

Or so.. Can PC message to Macs on the network?

iChat is included with OS X, and allows for messaging on a local network, with or without an internet connection... I'm not sure about offline Mac-PC messaging (I'm sure it is available -- check versiontracker.com or macupdate.com), but iChat is compatible with AIM, but requires an internet connection to work.

[Krusty]

I assume you mean something like Net Send on Windows. While there's nothing I know of that duplicates this functionality built in to OS X (I could be wrong), why not just use iChat ... which is built-in with any newer Mac can be used via rendezvous to automatically allow you to chat with others on the local network.

Do this:
Open IChat->Preferences->Accounts and check the "Enable local rendezvous messaging" on all Macs on your network that you want to use. This will create an ad-hoc network for instant messaging.
Read more here

[ManOfSteal]

Welcome to the MacNN Forums!

[larkost]

Thankfully there is nothing directly like NetSend (huge security hole... and it was just generally a botched idea). However there are solutions depending on what you are looking for. As people have pointed out iChat will setup its own network for that sort of thing, and there are other ways of popping up messages using SSH or AppleScript, but before getting into that it might be a good idea to get a feel for what the original poster is really looking for.

[kj1983]

thx.. Yah. i was looking something like net send in windows.

[Diggory Laycock]

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/mo...amp;vid=126820

[Millennium]

Something like NetSend?

The closest I can think of is the standard Unix talk command, which comes with OSX. You can use this to communicate with users on different hosts, if they're logged in and receiving messages.

However, there are two problems with talk as seen in OSX. One, it is a Terminal application, and I don't think messages sent using it are reflected in the GUI. You can experiment with this yourself to find out. Two, in order to talk between hosts you need a talk daemon running, and OSX does not come with one of these, so you'll need to download one. This kills it for your purposes, unless everyone is logged into the same Mac via ssh or something.

[wadesworld]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Two, in order to talk between hosts you need a talk daemon running, and OSX does not come with one of these, so you'll need to download one. This kills it for your purposes, unless everyone is logged into the same Mac via ssh or something.

Not true. OS X has /usr/libexec/ntalkd.

Just do /sbin/service ntalk start

Wade

[indigoimac]

I've been using quickpopup (google it) to imbetween mac and pc not free but it works pretty well.

[macintologist]

http://park16.wakwak.com/~ishiwata/ipmsg/index_e.html