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matthewclarkg · Sep 14, 2005, 10:05 PM

sorry guys, i guess most of you out there are mac experts and my question may be trivial, but i just bought a g5 with isight and tiger osx and would like to video conference with family back home with a standard pc. Can that be done and if so what must i do ??

matthewclarkg · Sep 14, 2005, 10:35 PM

anybody interested in helpin....? I haven't got any answers from anyone.

TETENAL · Sep 14, 2005, 10:39 PM

Your family needs to install AOL Instant Messenger 5.9 for Windows. You can then video chat with them using iChat.

http://www.aim.com/get_aim/win/latest_win.adp?aolp=

matthewclarkg · Sep 14, 2005, 10:43 PM

anyone .... ??? i thought this might be something some of you already experienced and it was easy to help.

matthewclarkg · Sep 14, 2005, 10:44 PM

thanks for your reply. is that it ?? anything else i should know ?? do i have to have a msn account or can i use my yahoo ??

TETENAL · Sep 14, 2005, 10:49 PM

Well, for AIM/iChat you need an AIM or .Mac account (you can get a .Mac account by registering for the 60 days test drive. You can let it expire; the iChat account will continue to work for free). Your family needs an AIM account. But then that's it. It works pretty well between AIM and iChat.

The Yahoo Messenger client for Mac also supports video, so if you already have a Yahoo account you can use that too. Yahoo Messenger for Mac doesn't support sound though.

matthewclarkg · Sep 15, 2005, 12:53 AM

i have done that but somehow my family AIM address appears on my ichat buddy list, but it always appears as inactive (as if they were not available) but in fact i can be speaking with them on skype at the same time and i know that they do have their computer on and their messenger active. Weird or inexperienced ??

Just to clarify, when you refer to AIM account, i suppose you mean a hotmail address, correct ?? We both have one set up.

Do i need any special version of msn or ichat (mine is 3.01) also ??

Wiskedjak · Sep 15, 2005, 01:04 AM

AIM is the WORST way to communicate with iChat. The resolution of the AIM video window is so small as to be totally useless for video conferencing.

Get them to install Trillian Pro. It's not free, but it is only $25 and video quality is equal to iChat. You'll still be using AOL's chat network, just not their Instant Messenger.

siMac · Sep 15, 2005, 02:38 AM

Originally Posted by matthewclarkg

Just to clarify, when you refer to AIM account, i suppose you mean a hotmail address, correct ?? We both have one set up.

Do i need any special version of msn or ichat (mine is 3.01) also ??

You're not listening are you?

When he refers to an AIM account, he means an AIM account. Not a hotmail account, not a Yahoo account, not a HSBC account. www.aim.com

Then, using iChat on your end and an AIM compatible client with video capabilities (ie AIM 5.9 or Trillian Pro) at their end you will be able to video-conference - barring any firewall problems, but that's another issue.

Good luck!

eggman · Sep 15, 2005, 07:49 PM

I've tried videoconferencing between AIM on the PC and iChat on the Mac, and there's a known bug where the image of the person using the PC will "freeze" 7 minutes into the chat... and the chat needs to be re-initiated.

It gets real old real fast.

If the PC user is willing to spend $25 on a superior client, Trillian Pro is the way to go. The PC user still needs an AIM account, but they are relieved of the annoying ad-ware that is AIM, and anyone they chat with on the Mac is spared looking at usually goofy looking freeze frames every 7 minutes.

osxrules · Sep 16, 2005, 01:22 AM

ivisit seems to work OK. I've tried it Mac to PC and it works very well.

http://www.ivisit.com/

Video quality even over usb 1 cams was pretty good. I was able to receive a live 320x240 30 fps cam. Because of my rubbish camera and slow upload, I was only uploading about 5 fps.

I'd agree with using ichat and trillian though. There is more support for those programs. If it's family only and you don't want to pay for trillian, ivisit might suit you better.

peeb · May 15, 2006, 04:43 PM

SightSpeed works very well for me on mac and pc - easy, free for one to one, and no messing around with firewall issues.

JKT · May 15, 2006, 05:20 PM

Originally Posted by eggman

If the PC user is willing to spend $25 on a superior client, Trillian Pro is the way to go. The PC user still needs an AIM account, but they are relieved of the annoying ad-ware that is AIM, and anyone they chat with on the Mac is spared looking at usually goofy looking freeze frames every 7 minutes.

Not to mention being able to ditch MSN messenger and Yahoo messenger too...

viruce · May 16, 2006, 11:40 AM

I tried several alternatives, but in the end I ended up using amsn, which is a MSN client which supports webcam (but not sound, unfortunately).

If you need voice chat as well I suppose you could use Skype at the same time, but than you´re using 2 apps.

peeb · May 17, 2006, 08:56 PM

Did you try sightspeed? If so, what made you choose msn?