Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

phrenzy · Jun 2, 2002, 11:11 PM

One thing I am confused about, so, iChat will allow you to use your @mac.com addy to login. Okay, that's cool.

But, then it says that only CERTAIN versions of AIM will be able to see that address? WTF? So, that means people using, Trillian, Proteus, Adium, etc will NOT be able to see/communicating with you?

That's like having a phone # that only half the people can call you on - stupid crap. And, is there even ONE functionality advantage to using your mac.com addy?

FYI - according to the OSX AIM website the latest client supports mac.com logins - but, again it says "People using older clients will NOT be able to see you" - Whoopee - what the hell is the point then?

Spirit_VW · Jun 2, 2002, 11:47 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by phrenzy:
One thing I am confused about, so, iChat will allow you to use your @mac.com addy to login. Okay, that's cool.

But, then it says that only CERTAIN versions of AIM will be able to see that address? WTF? So, that means people using, Trillian, Proteus, Adium, etc will NOT be able to see/communicating with you?

That's like having a phone # that only half the people can call you on - stupid crap. And, is there even ONE functionality advantage to using your mac.com addy?

FYI - according to the OSX AIM website the latest client supports mac.com logins - but, again it says "People using older clients will NOT be able to see you" - Whoopee - what the hell is the point then?<hr /></blockquote>iChat is still probably months from release. I assume that Apple & AOL are going to improve on the existing iTools support by then.

juanvaldes · Jun 3, 2002, 02:26 AM

osxii: well ****. I must have missed that announcement, guess now I know why Adium has not been update in a while. I hope he continues, Adium is the best, has been for almost a year now and I really don't like the look (and likely lack of features) that is iChat.

And to reiterate the topic of this thread, "Why should we log in as @mac.com?"

Superchicken · Jun 3, 2002, 03:47 AM

why cause Apple will have an easy time with your @mac addy for the people who are comp ilit.
That's why.
you can still log in with your preexisting AIM accounts.

And as far as Adium. Adium is NOT a great client, it's fast yes, but so are ones like Proteus, I like proteus FAR more. And saying iChat is going to be featureless, PLEASE! What features other than chatting are in Adium?
If I wanna voice connect I have ot use the clasic version of AIm, and if I wanna image connect I need to have either clasic or OS X native AIM running.
iChat will let ou share graphics, that's really quite frankly all I care about.AIM for OS X right now SUCKS!
Apple's making a great client from the looks of it, prolly one that'll have some pretty spiffy features, some of which will probably be avalible only to @mac.com SNs with version 1.1 or 2

Quite complaining, you wanna use adium that's great, but don't get mad at apple for making a good app for those who don't like adium or AIM or Proteus's features.
There's lots of space for new IM clients.
And frankly Apple already has Mail, an Internet Radio station capable app, now they're making a app for sending IMs, which will prolly go multti system.
NOW THEN can we guess what's comming next?

Jim Paradise · Jun 3, 2002, 04:01 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
why cause Apple will have an easy time with your @mac addy for the people who are comp ilit.
That's why.
you can still log in with your preexisting AIM accounts.

And as far as Adium. Adium is NOT a great client, it's fast yes, but so are ones like Proteus, I like proteus FAR more. And saying iChat is going to be featureless, PLEASE! What features other than chatting are in Adium?
If I wanna voice connect I have ot use the clasic version of AIm, and if I wanna image connect I need to have either clasic or OS X native AIM running.
iChat will let ou share graphics, that's really quite frankly all I care about.AIM for OS X right now SUCKS!
Apple's making a great client from the looks of it, prolly one that'll have some pretty spiffy features, some of which will probably be avalible only to @mac.com SNs with version 1.1 or 2

Quite complaining, you wanna use adium that's great, but don't get mad at apple for making a good app for those who don't like adium or AIM or Proteus's features.
There's lots of space for new IM clients.
And frankly Apple already has Mail, an Internet Radio station capable app, now they're making a app for sending IMs, which will prolly go multti system.
NOW THEN can we guess what's comming next?<hr /></blockquote>I'll take Adium's UI and customizability over anything else out there at the moment. It's my prefered instant messanger for the moment (except for ICQ). Played with iChat for a few minutes and wasn't impressed (yadda yadda pre-release) but mainly because of the horrible UI. If I need to transfer a file... I'll use iChat once it's done. But until that point Adium is tops UI-wise.

juanvaldes · Jun 3, 2002, 04:59 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
why cause Apple will have an easy time with your @mac addy for the people who are comp ilit.
That's why.
you can still log in with your preexisting AIM accounts.

And as far as Adium. Adium is NOT a great client, it's fast yes, but so are ones like Proteus, I like proteus FAR more. And saying iChat is going to be featureless, PLEASE! What features other than chatting are in Adium?
If I wanna voice connect I have ot use the clasic version of AIm, and if I wanna image connect I need to have either clasic or OS X native AIM running.
iChat will let ou share graphics, that's really quite frankly all I care about.AIM for OS X right now SUCKS!
Apple's making a great client from the looks of it, prolly one that'll have some pretty spiffy features, some of which will probably be avalible only to @mac.com SNs with version 1.1 or 2

Quite complaining, you wanna use adium that's great, but don't get mad at apple for making a good app for those who don't like adium or AIM or Proteus's features.
There's lots of space for new IM clients.
And frankly Apple already has Mail, an Internet Radio station capable app, now they're making a app for sending IMs, which will prolly go multti system.
NOW THEN can we guess what's comming next?<hr /></blockquote>you don't get it.

It's stuff like having control over how a IM is presented to me, choice os time, date, Name, or anything else I want. It's control over how the dock icon works, sounds, smilies, stuff like logs, custom icons, forced text, and above all 3 (at one point a 4th) window modes. The choice of window mode ALONE is why I would take Adium over any other IM client.

Hey, if you enjoy Proteous more, great use it. If you like iChat more great, use it.

BUT what I don't get is WHY use your @mac.com log in and not be able to talk to most everyone else, unless they too use @mac.com. It defeats the purpose, then I can't talk to my windows buddy's, or my brother and father for christ sake!

Spirit_VW · Jun 3, 2002, 10:37 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:

BUT what I don't get is WHY use your @mac.com log in and not be able to talk to most everyone else, unless they too use @mac.com. It defeats the purpose, then I can't talk to my windows buddy's, or my brother and father for christ sake!<hr /></blockquote>To quote myself:

iChat is still probably months from release. I assume that Apple & AOL are going to improve on the existing iTools support by then.

Meaning that eventually, I'll bet they'll be far more compatible.

Why? Well, for moms & pops & various non-L337 computer users, being able to use their nifty new Mac.com e-mail address to log in and chat on AOL's network (Like I said, eventually I'm sure they'll be equal partners) will be a lot nicer than having to register another screen name just for AIM. Heck, I'm looking forward to it so I can do it all with just one screen name. If you don't want to, you don't have to.

jwblase · Jun 3, 2002, 11:52 AM

Personally, I think that Apple's tech support would love to have everybody using their @mac.com iChat for tech calls. (While true, it won't work if your internet is down, it would help for other problems).

The newest version of AIM can use the @mac.com , the older versions just have to download the new .app.

As for Adium and the others, I think that support will be added as the network becomes more feature complete (i.e., it time for Jaguar's release). It's just a matter of time (isn't it always?)

JB

Andrew 8808 · Jun 3, 2002, 05:35 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:

BUT what I don't get is WHY use your @mac.com log in and not be able to talk to most everyone else, unless they too use @mac.com. It defeats the purpose, then I can't talk to my windows buddy's, or my brother and father for christ sake!<hr /></blockquote>If you are logged in w/ your mac.com account you can talk to some regular AIM users. Cept I think it's flaky right now. I was talking to my friend logged in on AIM under my mac.com account, he was on his AIM account. But there people on my list that were online not showing up. I dunno. I'm sure they'll get it all figured out by the time it's released.

[ 06-03-2002, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: Andrew 8808 ]

juanvaldes · Jun 3, 2002, 06:10 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Andrew 8808:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:

BUT what I don't get is WHY use your @mac.com log in and not be able to talk to most everyone else, unless they too use @mac.com. It defeats the purpose, then I can't talk to my windows buddy's, or my brother and father for christ sake!<hr /></blockquote>If you are logged in w/ your mac.com account you can talk to some regular AIM users. Cept I think it's flaky right now. I was talking to my friend logged in on AIM under my mac.com account, he was on his AIM account. But there people on my list that were online not showing up. I dunno. I'm sure they'll get it all figured out by the time it's released.<hr /></blockquote>Only @mac.com and people using the official AIM client show up. Most everyone I know uses a 3ed party client because the official one sucks so badly, and we hate AOL. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

And I do understand that iChat is not done but the feature set should be frozen by now. I can see one login but that is not a whole lot, and will quickly be gone IF they allow 3ed party's to log in or view @mac.com.

So I am still left wondering, why?

Spirit_VW · Jun 3, 2002, 06:58 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:
So I am still left wondering, why?<hr /></blockquote>If Apple and AOL get the bugs worked out of it (or whatever causes the oddness of the current setup), then why not?

It will be convenient for a number of people.

Millennium · Jun 3, 2002, 07:25 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Spirit_VW:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:
So I am still left wondering, why?<hr /></blockquote>If Apple and AOL get the bugs worked out of it (or whatever causes the oddness of the current setup), then why not?

It will be convenient for a number of people.<hr /></blockquote>Most likely, the @mac.com addresses will only be available to people using OSCAR-based clients (AIM, iChat, and the third-party clients like Trillian which keep getting into trouble). TOC-based clients like Proteus and Fire will be forced to either switch to OSCAR (where AOL can block them) or not see everyone.

My guess is, this is a ploy AOL will use to try and keep people using "sanctioned" clients (like AIM and iChat): without these, you will only be able to talk to "actual" AIM users, and not everyone on the AIM service, like @mac.com and however many other companies get partnerships. It's rather tricky and somewhat underhanded, but I do give them props for creativity.

kman42 · Jun 3, 2002, 08:46 PM

1) It's really pretty simple. A newbie buys a computer and only has to sign up for one online address ([email protected]). It's confusing and annoying to have mulitple accounts for everything. Just today, I had to launch proteus to find my hotmail address so that I could try out MSMessenger 3.0. Remember, Apple is trying to make life easier for people.

2) There are 100x the number of spoken-for names on AOL compared to mac.com.

3) Apple wants to build a community. It's nice if it is announced to the world that you are a Mac user. It increases exposure.

4) Perhaps there will be increased integration with other iTools. Chat with a mac.com user, select a contextual menu to go to his/her homepage or mount his/her Public iDisk folder. Apple is trying to expand their dominion to include your online life. If it makes my life simpler, then I 'll gladly use my mac.com address rather than my aol address.

kman

Dyeus · Jun 17, 2002, 10:11 PM

Where can I download the newest version of AOL (so I can try it out) because I tryed to login with an aol (probably not the right one) and it didnt let me use my mac email address as login (didnt accepted the @)

CharlesS · Jun 17, 2002, 11:03 PM

Why? There are two simple reasons:

1. As has been mentioned before, it's convenient to have one less username and password to remember.

2. You don't have to give personal info to AOHell anymore.

starfleetX · Jun 17, 2002, 11:24 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Dyeus:
Where can I download the newest version of AOL (so I can try it out) because I tryed to login with an aol (probably not the right one) and it didnt let me use my mac email address as login (didnt accepted the @)<hr /></blockquote>VersionTracker.com is your friend:
<a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=10296&db=mac" target="_blank">AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 4.5.651</a>

CharlesS:
Check the dates on the posts here -- this topic was dead two weeks ago. Dyeus just brought it up to ask where to get the newest version of AIM.

[ 06-17-2002, 11:27 PM: Message edited by: starfleetX ]

Sap · Jun 17, 2002, 11:51 PM

Here's my theory why only the latest versions of AIM/iChat support mac.com stuff:

Most clients out there were developed way before this @mac.com stuff was announced. Usually an AIM screen name is at most 16 letters long and consists of nothing but letters and numbers. AIM developers took note and designed their applications accordingly. For example, I bet a lot of AIM clients limit their login field to 16 characters, or I dunno, do some under the hood stuff with that tidbit of info in mind. Perhaps even design their GUI based on 16 letter screen names. They simply weren't expecting people with 27 letter screen names to suddenly get integrated into AIM.

Something like that... Ok, enough wild speculation for today

ls -al · Jun 17, 2002, 11:57 PM

Simple reason why AOL would want to allow @mac.com. Trillian and Adium users will not be able to communicate with mac.com and will be perceived as second rate clients. You will have a couple of AIMers who wont be willing to switch from mac.com leading you to switch to AIM/iChat and abandon Adium/Proteus...

All a very evil plot to stop third party clients....

frawgz · Jun 18, 2002, 02:12 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ls -al:
Simple reason why AOL would want to allow @mac.com. Trillian and Adium users will not be able to communicate with mac.com and will be perceived as second rate clients. You will have a couple of AIMers who wont be willing to switch from mac.com leading you to switch to AIM/iChat and abandon Adium/Proteus...

All a very evil plot to stop third party clients....<hr /></blockquote>If the ability to see @mac.com users so far is being implemented at the client level and not the server (or perhaps in addition to the server), what's to stop third party developers like Cerulean Studios from implementing it as well? It may not be an option for Adium currently, since it's tied to the TOC server (but who knows), but since Trillian uses the Oscar protocol, I think they'd be able to do it if they really wanted to.

[ 06-18-2002, 02:14 AM: Message edited by: frawgz ]

supernature · Jun 18, 2002, 02:38 AM

I don't know if someone mentioned this earlier or not, but iChat is AIM + local network chat.

The Mac.com name, as someone mentioned earlier, only works with those who use the more recent version of AIM (and perhaps other 3rd party IM clients who've updated it to use it as well).

I can chat with all of my buddies on AIM, but granted their using AOL's IM and not third party ones.

Christopher Ellis · Jun 18, 2002, 09:30 AM

Here's the deal with compatibility.

Right now if you're a Mac user using the newest version of AIM from AOL, you will be able to login under your @mac.com address and freely converse without whomever you choose. HOWEVER, you will not show up on their Buddy List, nor will they be able to add you to their Buddy List unless they are running the newest version of the AIM client, Windows OR Macintosh.

I worked this out yesterday between my Mac and a friend's PC. The newest version, that's all that's required. There is no magical realm of future compatibility, once they've worked the kinks out of iChat. It's all about having the newest version of the client software. Not complex at all. Don't complain that things are broken.

As for why use your @mac.com address ... I don't know. I agree that it is very simple for first time computer buyers. If you have an established account, the only incentive to log on with an @mac.com account would be if Apple prevented you from using iChat with [email protected] usernames.

ls -al · Jun 18, 2002, 10:30 AM

Actually, conspiracy theories aside. The reason for @mac.com is simple. It is about branding. Simple as that. Build's the Mac branding through exposure. This is the reason @mac.com and homepage.mac.com exist. You won't believe how many times I get the "that's a cool e-mail address, easy to remember etc" from Windows users.

The more @mac.com addresses that people see the more they will feel that Mac's are not isolated little islands and that you can use a Mac to do IM. Plus it looks cool to have the same e-mail address and IM address.

supernature · Jun 18, 2002, 03:40 PM

Probably about branding as well, but I think more for simplicity.

One name for the email, IM, and local chat services. It has potential for other uses as well on the local side of things. iChat can be used in school, so students and teachers can talk to each other via the computer, and at the same time be able to block out instant messaging over the internet.

iChat is more than just IM over the internet.