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General discussion

Which Messenger to Use

May 19, 2007 3:36AM PDT

Hey, i'm a soon to be switcher (Waiting for Leopard) and I'm getting all the loose ends tied up now.

I'm looking for a messenger client for OSX that can communicate with MSN. I also would like to have video capabilities (which is the big hurdle) and possibly song info broadcasting.

Does anyone know of, or is currently using something similar?

Discussion is locked

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You could try
May 19, 2007 5:35AM PDT

Microsoft MSN Messenger for Mac.

I have not used it so cannot comment on the pros and cons as compared to the Windows version.


P

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Researched
May 19, 2007 7:16AM PDT

I am, like all the greats, basing my knowleadge on wikipedia, but I think that is unable to do video conferencing.

I stumbled across aMSN, which seems to do a lot of what I need, can anyone with it give me a review?

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Posted a few times.
May 19, 2007 7:18AM PDT
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Just twice!!!
May 19, 2007 7:34AM PDT

My clever plot to increase the number of ppl who can help me!!

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The answers are going to be few.
May 19, 2007 7:36AM PDT

I hope you can use the variant I noted...

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Fraid Not
May 19, 2007 7:39AM PDT

Only one of my friends have skype. I was looking for a MSN Video Conferencer.

Thanx for the help

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Haven't seen that.
May 19, 2007 7:42AM PDT

MSN is keeping such fairly private to Windows only. You'll likely have to break down and run it in PARALLELS or look to another type of IM.

Bob

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Yeah, but
May 19, 2007 8:33AM PDT

MSN, the program, is pretty Windows exclusive, but the MSN protocall is open to a lot of programs, too many to fully research into.

Thus far i am considering aMSN, but there are probably others that are better.

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Try this.
May 22, 2007 11:23PM PDT

I've only had my first iMac for a week today. (I'm assuming you plan to buy a desktop.)

If I read you correctly , you are looking to text, audio, and even video communication.

There is an excellent tutorial on the subject on the Apple site in "Mac 101".(Just type that into the search box.) You'll want "iChat AV". This article covers the subject well, including what IM is needed.

Angeline

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iChat AV
May 23, 2007 4:08AM PDT

I think the poster is more concerned with video chat with people using the MS Messenger service.
I don't think that iChat works with that service.

P

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Took the words right out of my mouth!!
May 23, 2007 4:20AM PDT

There are Jabber transporters for iChat that will allow it to communicate with MSN/Windows Live. Unfortunately, those programs dont support video chat.

Anyone got aMSN? How's that working for you?

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aMSN
May 25, 2007 7:29PM PDT

I use this and it works very well. You can do video conferencing with PC's or other Macs. It will work with an iSight or other firewire webcam. If you have a USB webcam, these can often be made to work with Macam.

Note that you will have to tweak your firewall/router in the usual way to get video(and file transfer) working.

Downside - no audio, although there is a dev version that does voiceclips - I have not tried that.

IMHO, probably the best cross platform tool for video(and sound) is Skype - I video chat with PC users all the time with this.

iChat AV is brilliant of you're talking to another Mac user - although it's a bit of a *** having to set up an AOL screen name if you don't have a .Mac acccount.

Hva fun chatting!

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(NT) THANKS!!!
May 25, 2007 9:25PM PDT