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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Applications > Why are Adium and iChat so loved?

Why are Adium and iChat so loved?
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RydDragyn
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Mar 14, 2004, 03:40 PM
 
I personally cannot understand this, since both apps lack critical features, most notably the ability to remotely read other people's away messages. The official AIM release sets the standard for funcitonality, even if it looks bad.
     
Busemann
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Mar 14, 2004, 03:49 PM
 
Originally posted by RydDragyn:
I personally cannot understand this, since both apps lack critical features, most notably the ability to remotely read other people's away messages. The official AIM release sets the standard for funcitonality, even if it looks bad.
Yes, that's a very important feature
     
gorickey
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Mar 14, 2004, 03:57 PM
 
I'll take no ad banners (and not applying a hack) over reading some stupid away message...
     
mitchell_pgh
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Mar 14, 2004, 04:00 PM
 
What do you consider "critical" ?

People love those programs because they are simple, straightforward and offer them everything they need.

Obviously if you need another application, there are others out there.

To be honest, I don't even know what you are referring to with regards to "most notably the ability to remotely read other people's away messages"

Could you show me a screenshot or something?
     
krove
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Mar 14, 2004, 04:04 PM
 
iChat allows one to remotely read away messages without having to actually message the person...what gives? Granted, iChat does not actually send an away message when one is away, but this is not the functionality of which you seem to speak.

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juanvaldes
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Mar 14, 2004, 04:09 PM
 
Adium 1.6 - The interface
Adium 2 - The options
iChat - Some would say the interface but I wouldn't
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mitchell_pgh
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Mar 14, 2004, 05:15 PM
 
I'm not trying to defend missing features, but I guess the away message thing doesn't seem to bother me. (and if the others have it, it should be in there somewhere, even if not on by default)

I like iChat because it's supported by an actual company, it's free, no ads, nice interface (my opinion), and is integrated in to the iApps. I work on numerous computers, and it's nice that the program is installed by default.

I don't know how many times I've started to write an email and noticed that the person was online... saves a ton of back and forth...

I also don't consider chat one of my most used applications... for me, it's always on, but I really only chat with five or six people on a regular basis. Perhaps if I was on chat more often, it would be a bigger deal.
     
Angus_D
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Mar 14, 2004, 05:25 PM
 
Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I like iChat because it's supported by an actual company, it's free, no ads, nice interface (my opinion), and is integrated in to the iApps.
It's not free. What is this integration you speak of? (other than the Address Book )
     
gorickey
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Mar 14, 2004, 05:38 PM
 
Originally posted by Angus_D:
What is this integration you speak of? (other than the Address Book )
Mail.app for darn sure...
     
cpac
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Mar 14, 2004, 05:53 PM
 
Originally posted by Angus_D:
It's not free. What is this integration you speak of? (other than the Address Book )
It came free with both Jaguar and Panther. (Yes, if you want AV, but don't want Panther you have to pay)

The other integration is only in Panther AFAIK. In mail, you can have a column shown in the list view which indicates if the person who sent the email is online.

This also happens when you address an email to somebody - if they're online a green orb will appear just to the left of their name in the "to" or "cc" or "bcc" field.

As a previous poster pointed out, this can be a huge time saver in terms of back-and-forth emails
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Horsepoo!!!
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Mar 14, 2004, 05:55 PM
 
Until RydDragyn can explain what the hell "remotely read other people's away messages" means, all we can do is guess.

I'm pretty sure you can read people's away messages in Adium 2.
     
yukon
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Mar 14, 2004, 06:38 PM
 
I like Adium because it's the closest I've come to AIMM, the old Classic application. Specialized, fast, reliable, small, customizable, minimum screen space used. I like Adium2 because LibGAIM will help a lot, I want good Jabber ;-) (www.jabber.org)

iChat was cool.
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OptimusG4
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Mar 14, 2004, 06:45 PM
 
Lets see, in iChat i can mouse over the s/n in my buddy list and a yellow tag displays the away message.
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F_Elz
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Mar 14, 2004, 06:46 PM
 
The latest Adium 2 builds don't work on Jaguar...or atleast my mac.
     
brutal
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Mar 14, 2004, 07:05 PM
 
iChat automatically connects when I bring my Mac back from sleep. I don�t know of any other IM that does this. Now THERE is a critical feature..
     
mitchell_pgh
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Mar 14, 2004, 07:28 PM
 
Originally posted by brutal:
iChat automatically connects when I bring my Mac back from sleep. I don�t know of any other IM that does this. Now THERE is a critical feature..
I couldn't sleep without that feature...

I'm not arguing that iChat is the best, I'm arguing that it's not bad. The video chat component of it ROCKS (now if Windows people were only smart enough to connect their cameras correctly)
     
King Bob On The Cob
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Mar 15, 2004, 12:51 PM
 
Originally posted by F_Elz:
The latest Adium 2 builds don't work on Jaguar...or atleast my mac.
Time to upgrade...
     
Turias
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Mar 15, 2004, 01:04 PM
 
Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Lets see, in iChat i can mouse over the s/n in my buddy list and a yellow tag displays the away message.
The same thing happens in the latest Adium2 alphas. Mouse over the buddy and a tooltip displays the away message.
     
typoon
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Mar 15, 2004, 01:17 PM
 
I think iChat for several of the reasons stated already. Firstly it intgrates nicely with addressbook and Mail. Second because Mac to Mac video chat ROCKS and it just works. Also the notification in Mail that someone is online makes it nicer as well.

Those are some of the reasons iChat is so beloved.
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Sakino
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Mar 15, 2004, 02:05 PM
 
Originally posted by Turias:
The same thing happens in the latest Adium2 alphas. Mouse over the buddy and a tooltip displays the away message.
I'm running the latest adium2 alpha and it doesn't do that, although it does give the following information.
Online for:
Online Since:
Away: Yes (thats all it states if they are away)
Client:
Idel time:

If there person were in away mode.

I came from a windows pc, and used to always look at away messages. I'm glad I got adium, because now I spend less time going through my huge aol list to see what people got to say.
     
Turias
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Mar 15, 2004, 02:11 PM
 
Originally posted by Sakino:
I'm running the latest adium2 alpha and it doesn't do that, although it does give the following information.
Online for:
Online Since:
Away: Yes (thats all it states if they are away)
Client:
Idel time:

If there person were in away mode.

I came from a windows pc, and used to always look at away messages. I'm glad I got adium, because now I spend less time going through my huge aol list to see what people got to say.
Delete all of the files in Library/Application Support/Adium 2

Save anything you really need and don't want to recreate (like aliases).

Then, relaunch and behold the away messages.

Since Adium2 is in alpha, it's best to clean the prefs every time you update.
     
kcmac
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Mar 15, 2004, 02:33 PM
 
I never knew about the online buddy status in Mail. Outstanding!

Learned my fact for the day. Now I can proceed on to more fun things.
     
oVeRmInD911
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Mar 15, 2004, 02:43 PM
 
Originally posted by Turias:
Delete all of the files in Library/Application Support/Adium 2

Save anything you really need and don't want to recreate (like aliases).

Then, relaunch and behold the away messages.

Since Adium2 is in alpha, it's best to clean the prefs every time you update.
Also, before he does that, he should make sure his account is a libgaim one and not TOC2, because TOC2 does not support remote away messages.
     
Angus_D
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Mar 15, 2004, 03:31 PM
 
Originally posted by cpac:
The other integration is only in Panther AFAIK. In mail, you can have a column shown in the list view which indicates if the person who sent the email is online.
Nope, that was in Jaguar too. I was just wondering what this iApp integration was all about. I'm not trying to be pedantic, just wondering if I'd missed something.
     
Busemann
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Mar 15, 2004, 04:10 PM
 
Originally posted by Angus_D:
I was just wondering what this iApp integration was all about. I'm not trying to be pedantic, just wondering if I'd missed something.
With iChatStatus, the currently playing song in iTunes is shown. I have a hard time of seeing how else any other iapp integration could be done..
     
Arkham_c
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Mar 15, 2004, 04:31 PM
 
I like how when I quit iChat, I stay logged in, and I can see who else is online in my menu bar without running iChat.

I also like how IM messages in iChat pop up very small until you acknowledge them. Much better than the regular AIM, which jumps up in your face all the time. Very annoying on a laptop with limited screen space.

I like some features of Fire.app that are missing from iChat (real-time translation and chat encryption), but I can live without those.
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brutal
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Mar 15, 2004, 05:16 PM
 
now if only apple would include support for the msn protocol - everything would be just fine and dandy.
     
Sakino
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Mar 15, 2004, 10:20 PM
 
Originally posted by Turias:
Delete all of the files in Library/Application Support/Adium 2

Save anything you really need and don't want to recreate (like aliases).

Then, relaunch and behold the away messages.

Since Adium2 is in alpha, it's best to clean the prefs every time you update.
Thank you, I got away messages now! Now I know I am going to be un productive in the library, because im going to be reading everyones away messages.
     
saranwarp
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Mar 16, 2004, 01:39 AM
 
I've never had any desire to try another chat client...AIM is just fine. I love how I can send messages AND have an away message up, which you can't do on a PC. As for the ad, after years of using the program you gain the ability to block it from sight.
     
brutal
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Mar 16, 2004, 05:07 AM
 
but what's the point of using the official AIM-client when you can use iChat instead?
     
   
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