[Kraetos]

I've always found iChat to be lacking in features and flexibility. Ergo, I use Adium X. But Adium X's OSCAR implementation is less than perfect (but damn close), especially with regards to direct connections and file transfer. More importantly, it lacks video and voice functionality.

I would love to use iChat, and make better use of my iSight. But; I can't arrange the groups the way I want to, I can't combine contacts, I can't assign Aliases that work with the AIM server, I can't get rid of that stupid bubble view which is way too big, and even with Chax and making the contact list font smaller, the contact list still stays way to big. It's just not customizable enough.

I would love to iChat to be more like Adium X. Alternatively, it would be great if Adium X would show me who has an iSight like iChat does so I could know when to switch to iChat. But it would be easier to make iChat more like Adium X.

iChat 4 doesn't seem to address these issues, and instead it adds some useful features, some not-so-useful features, and seems to completely disregard other shortcomings that even AIM 4.7 can handle.

Does anyone else feel my pain? Lack of video in Adium X; lack of some very simple features in iChat?

[Windowsrookie]

You might want to check this out, it adds some cool suff to iChat.

http://www.ksuther.com/chax/

[chucker]

There are still far too few people I know that have a webcam… and Skype's implementation is simply more reliable, even though its quality is lacking (but improving).

Originally Posted by Windowsrookie You might want to check this out, it adds some cool suff to iChat. http://www.ksuther.com/chax/

He did mention Chax in his post.

[Kraetos]

Originally Posted by Windowsrookie You might want to check this out, it adds some cool suff to iChat. http://www.ksuther.com/chax/

Originally Posted by Kraetos ... and even with Chax and making the contact list font smaller ...

Originally Posted by chucker There are still far too few people I know that have a webcam… and Skype's implementation is simply more reliable, even though its quality is lacking (but improving).

Nobody I know uses skype, but quite a few have MacBooks or MacBook Pros. But I never video chat with them because I'm always in Adium X. I think it would be nifty if Adium could simply inform me who has a webcam, like iChat does, so I would know if I wanted to switch to iChat for a little while.

[Windowsrookie]

Ooops.

But the people I know that have webcams use Adium, and it pisses me off when I want to talk to them. aarrrg.

[psmith2.0]

iChat. It's there, it's easy and it more than covers my basic chatting needs.

[Robo]

iChat. It works for me.

[cosus]

I don't know. I use Adium for anything other than AIM. But my computer seems to significantly slow down when using Adium. Also, iChat just seems more streamlined and well though out regardless of its shortcomings. I stopped using ICQ because it was just overcomplicated for what I needed, but iChat seems to have returned to the simplicity I needed.

[Sketch]

iChat doesn't work well enough for me to video chat. I use skype or SightSpeed for video chatting. SS is quite good (video quality is pretty good, better than skype for sure), but sometimes it just doesn't want to work, although it happens rarely.

[rollercoaster375]

I use MSN for one third and AIM for two thirds of my IMing, so I have no choice but Adium. I'll use Skype if I want to video chat with someone not on my network (For that, I use iChat).

Adium feels more natural, like a part of my computer, rather than a separate application, and I like that for IMs.

[Bryson]

Adium. By god, I wish it did Skype as well.

[Kraetos]

Originally Posted by rollercoaster375 I use MSN for one third and AIM for two thirds of my IMing, so I have no choice but Adium. I'll use Skype if I want to video chat with someone not on my network (For that, I use iChat). Adium feels more natural, like a part of my computer, rather than a separate application, and I like that for IMs.

Exactly. Adium just kinda slinks into the corner and is there when you need it. iChat is so big and brushed metal and colorful, its in your face and that's not what I need in a chat client.

[Brad]

What's with the assumption in the poll that people only use AIM for chatting?

I'm editing it to reflect that unwritten intent.

Why no love for the MSN, Yahoo, or Skype clients?

[Kraetos]

Originally Posted by Brad What's with the assumption in the poll that people only use AIM for chatting? I'm editing it to reflect that unwritten intent. Why no love for MSN, Yahoo, or Skype?

Options 2, 4 and 5 cover that, don't they?

Actually, if I could make more than one poll, I would've added that. And I forgot about skype.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Kraetos Options 2, 4 and 5 cover that, don't they?

Those options make it a very oddly-targeted poll and difficult to draw any conclusions based on the votes alone. Eh, whatever.

[spikeh]

I voted Other because although I used to use Adium X, it somehow got permanently fucked in the head with Keychain, so now I use the horrid Microsoft client and iChat if I want to bother Chucker with tales of de-shelled Turtles and granny porn.

[Kraetos]

Originally Posted by Brad Those options make it a very oddly-targeted poll and difficult to draw any conclusions based on the votes alone. Eh, whatever.

Fair enough. I only have AIM so that's all I'm concerned with, but that is rather self-centered of me.

[Dorian Gray]

I use Skype. I like it because it easily slices through all the weird security shit on my uni network (or any other network I've tried for that matter), it uses very secure encryption, it's multi-platform, it does IM + voice + video + file transfer, and it's the most popular client among my friends across Europe. I dislike it because it's very processor-intensive (voice calls suck up about 40% of my G4's time, though video calls use only a little more so perhaps the encryption is very CPU-intensive) and the user interface is not that great although it looks good. An example: I recently used Skype on a Windows PC for the first time and spent literally two minutes trying to find out how to sign out (turns out it's in the bloody File menu!!!).

I tried getting an AIM account a while ago, but anything with a website that looks like this is an instant turn-off for me, and predictably it was an absolute nightmare to set up. Nowhere could I find a clear conceptual break-down of exactly how the account worked and its relationship with the client, I was inundated with jargon like "ICQ", and after failing to get it to work with iChat I gave up for good. When something as powerful as Skype works perfectly every single time, right out of the box, I just can't be bothered messing around with alternatives that are ten times more complicated. The geek in me just runs out of energy when faced with needlessly complicated software.

[Schnauzer]

I only use Ichat, mainly because i love its interface! it just looks so good, and i only use AOL so it works good

[torifile]

I don't IM. Well, I have on occasion and those times I've used iChat. Lately, when trying to use iChat with my iSight so my parents can see my son, it hasn't worked at all. We just get some connection error so I end up getting frustrated and the boy gets fussy. Not a good thing.

[Luca]

I switched to Adium X when 1.0 came out.

[Mugge]

Adium X for MSN, and a little Skype on the side.

[HezMah19]

Adium X, iChat and the ocasional Skype.

I use Adium for MSN, however I prefer my AIM in iChat, I can video call the few people I enjoy video chatting with (on Macs) and everyone else on Adium.

Skype is more of an "iChat isnt working" thing...most people I know dont use it for some reason...

[beardedmacuser]

Microsoft Messenger for Mac.

All the folk I IM use MSN, so Microsoft Messenger seems to do everything I need...

[spikeh]

Originally Posted by beardedmacuser Microsoft Messenger for Mac. All the folk I IM use MSN, so Microsoft Messenger seems to do everything I need...

Have you tried Adium? I only ask because I was forced to switch from Adium to Microsoft Messenger and Adium is just miles, miles better - not least because it's skinnable, and supports tabbed chatting. Give it a go if you haven't already, it's brilliant.

[Dorian Gray]

Originally Posted by beardedmacuser Microsoft Messenger for Mac.

What's it like compared to the Windows MSN client? I might finally convince my parents to get a Mac (they're due a new computer soon) but my sister and one brother live with them and they use MSN a lot.

[turbulentfurball]

iChat and Microsoft Messenger for Mac. I've tried Adium, but I think I prefer the two stand alone apps.

Originally Posted by Dorian Gray What's it like compared to the Windows MSN client?

No adverts, which is a big positive. It's missing lots of the 'features' of the Windows client; no 'bumps', white board, video or audio chat, no games. It's very similar to the old Windows Messenger with the addition of avatars, and the ability to display the currently playing song in iTunes or a custom status message. It does appear to be a little bit of a resource hog though; even while idle, it's using ~3% of my CPU compared to 0% for iChat.

[spikeh]

Originally Posted by turbulentfurball No adverts, which is a big positive. It's missing lots of the 'features' of the Windows client; no 'bumps', white board, video or audio chat, no games. It's very similar to the old Windows Messenger with the addition of avatars, and the ability to display the currently playing song in iTunes or a custom status message. It does appear to be a little bit of a resource hog though; even while idle, it's using ~3% of my CPU compared to 0% for iChat.

Nail on the head. It looks just ... horrid. But it is a far more fully-featured implementation of MSN than Adium offers. I just don't care that much about custom emoticons and things like that

[turbulentfurball]

Originally Posted by spikeh I just don't care that much about custom emoticons and things like that

That's available on MS Messenger for Mac too unfortunately! If MSN for Windows was more like the Mac version, I'd be happier (if I used Windows, which I rarely do)

I think one of the issues I had with Adium was file transfers not working properly. I forget which network it was with, but that was pretty much a deal breaker for me.

[Yontsey]

I use Adium 95% of the time and then I use iChat the other 5% when Im video chatting with my girlfriend.