“iChat is one of the most obvious receipients of Apple’s new interface design rules. This, more than most any program in Leopard, reaps the rewards: the lack of borders and the relatively utilitarian look mean more room for text, both in the buddy list and in any of the conversation windows,” Jon Fingas reports for MacNN.
“Until now, iChat has always been the IM client experienced Mac users ran only out of necessity, such as having to conduct an AV chat or requiring a reliable file transfer method. Although Skype and Yahoo have caught up in some respects, iChat is still what most turn to when connection quality is more important than the luxuries of more robust clients,” Fingas reports.
“iChat 4.0 does not entirely meet every need, especially for those who depend on Windows Live or Yahoo. Regardless, the improvements in day-to-day usefulness are hard to ignore when iChat is used regularly. iChat alone may not justify Leopard’s $129 price-tag, but it could be enough to tip the balance in favor of a purchase for some fence-sitters. The additions may even provoke at least a few companies that turn to iChat for business purposes,” Fingas reports.
Full review here.
@Gorgalor .. you should check out Adium messenger for Mac!
iChat has lots of wonderfull features, and its true that its video function is amazing. However, hardly anyone uses that damn thing in comparison to MSN and Yahoo. It’s really annoying not being able to use it to IM people on networks other than AIM.. Going the Jabber route to connect to MSN is really annoying, and none of the features work.. its not worth the hassle
I’m not sure where Pum Pum Conquerer is located, but his statement (“ardly anyone uses it in comparison to MSN/Yahoo) simply isn’t correct. For at least seven last years (as far as I remember), AIM has been by far the most widely used IM platform, wit MSN and Yahoo trailing it by some margin.
The problems that I have with the new iChat are many. I like a personalized interface. I normally use a program called ichatter and emotimaker. Neither of these work with this version. Needless ot say I am very upset about this.