Using Messenger on a Mac

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

mike.guasch@gmail.com - 24 Oct 2006 05:34 GMT

Hi.

I am reading a lot about problems arising from using the Messenger (any
chat client or the popular ones like Yahoo or MSN) on a Mac. Sometimes
there are problems with the webcam (one or the other cannot view the
person's webcam) , and sometimes with the Audio (no audio at all).
Apparently Yahoo has only set up a 3.0 version of Yahoo Messenger for
Mac.. and it seems it is lagging behind in its Microsoft (Windows)
counterpart.

Could this be a further problem down the road, specially for people who
use Messenger for Mac and regularly talks / or uses the same chat
client to talk to online friends in Messenger who are using Windows?

Anything informative you can provide can help and so I can straighten
out the facts about this rumor.

Thanks

mvg9876

Reply to this Message

Corentin Cras-Méneur - 24 Oct 2006 19:48 GMT

Hi,

> Could this be a further problem down the road, specially for people who
> use Messenger for Mac and regularly talks / or uses the same chat
> client to talk to online friends in Messenger who are using Windows?
>
> Anything informative you can provide can help and so I can straighten
> out the facts about this rumor.

Let me try to summarize:
- I've never had any problem for text chat between platforms (except of
course when ew had problems signing in lately, but that's a different
topic all together). I don;t see any reason why that would change.

- there aren't currently any problem with audio and video because we
simply don't have any support for Audio and Video.
The MacBU blog posted about that and these features seem to be under
development for future versions and should be compatible with the latest
protocol for Windows.

Corentin

Signature

--- Mac:MS MVP (Francophone) http://www.cortig.net/wordpress/ ---
http://www.mvps.org - http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
MVPs are not MS employees - Les MVP ne travaillent pas pour MS
Remove "NoSpam" to e-mail me - Retirez "NoSpam" pour m'écrire

Reply to this Message

Amit - 26 Oct 2006 06:01 GMT

Hi Mike,

An easy solution to make voice call's from Mac user's to PC user's is
to use skype.

I have been using Skype for a while now.

Regards
-Amit

> Hi.
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> mvg9876

Reply to this Message

Corentin Cras-Méneur - 26 Oct 2006 17:43 GMT

> An easy solution to make voice call's from Mac user's to PC user's is
> to use skype.

or iChat on a Mac and AIM 5.9 on a PC actually. Or Wengo Phone (whichy
also supports video and is somehow multi-protocol aware), or Gizmo, or
Adium... but that doesn't solve the problem for people who need to use
Messenger because their contacts won;t use anything else unfortunately

:-\

Corentin

Signature

Reply to this Message

mike.guasch@gmail.com - 27 Oct 2006 17:45 GMT

Hi Corentin,

Thanks for your suggestions. So correct me if I am wrong...the Mac user
will use iChat (and iSight for video) while the other will use AIM 5.9
messenger for Windows (with audio and video) .. and that will work too?
Amit suggested Skype.. and I am reading all about it too.

This is one issue I am trying to get as much information as possible
because I am thinking of trying my hands on a Mac.. and most of the
people I chat with overseas use Windows.. so yeah.. sometimes one needs
to make sure about that so everything will be fine later on.

Thanks again!

Mike

> > An easy solution to make voice call's from Mac user's to PC user's is
> > to use skype.
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> MVPs are not MS employees - Les MVP ne travaillent pas pour MS
> Remove "NoSpam" to e-mail me - Retirez "NoSpam" pour m'écrire

Reply to this Message

Corentin Cras-Méneur - 27 Oct 2006 21:53 GMT

> Hi Corentin,
>
> Thanks for your suggestions. So correct me if I am wrong...the Mac user
> will use iChat (and iSight for video) while the other will use AIM 5.9
> messenger for Windows (with audio and video) .. and that will work too?

I do it once in a while. No earlier version of AIM will do it and no
later (eg: Triton beta) either. It has to be this version.
http://www.aim.com/get_aim/win/other_win.adp?aolp=0

> Amit suggested Skype.. and I am reading all about it too.

Yep, Skype works OK for me.
As I was saying, WengoPhone is also cross platform and supports video
but the app is way to buggy IMHO.

> This is one issue I am trying to get as much information as possible
> because I am thinking of trying my hands on a Mac.. and most of the
> people I chat with overseas use Windows.. so yeah.. sometimes one needs
> to make sure about that so everything will be fine later on.

As you can see, there are options. For audio and video, Messenger is not
currently one of them, but the MacBU blogs mention that they are working
on it.

Corentin

Signature

Reply to this Message

mike.guasch@gmail.com - 27 Oct 2006 17:48 GMT

Hi Corentin

So one uses Mac, with iChat (and iSight for webcam) while the other
uses AIM 5.9 for Windows for PC users, and that will work?

Amit suggested Skype.. and I am reading about it.

I wish to get as much info as possible because I am trying to get my
hands on a Mac and sometimes one needs to be sure all apps will work.
Most of the friends I am planning to chat with uses PC and mostly Yahoo
Messenger.

Thanks again for your suggestions. I will investigate further.

Mike

Reply to this Message

mike.guasch@gmail.com - 27 Oct 2006 17:50 GMT

HI Amit.

How about voice and webcam combination, does Skype allow that too from
Mac to a PC?
Would've been nice if it does.

Thanks

Mike

> Hi Mike,
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> >
> > mvg9876

Reply to this Message

Michel Bintener - 27 Oct 2006 18:36 GMT

Hi Mike,

I don't know if Skype works with Yahoo. However, Skype allows you to have
cross-platform audio- and video-chats, and it is quite good at that. I'm
using it frequently to talk to friends on both Macs and PCs, and I've never
had any complaints.

On 27/10/06 18:50, in article
1161967819.100810.169390@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com,

> HI Amit.
>
[quoted text clipped - 36 lines]
>>>
>>> mvg9876

Signature

Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

Reply to this Message

Corentin Cras-Méneur - 27 Oct 2006 21:53 GMT

> Hi Mike,
>
> I don't know if Skype works with Yahoo. However, Skype allows you to have
> cross-platform audio- and video-chats, and it is quite good at that. I'm
> using it frequently to talk to friends on both Macs and PCs, and I've never
> had any complaints.

Skype-to-skyoe works fine for me.

I didn't even mention Yahoo Messenger even though they have supported
video on Mac OS X for a long time because of the very poor quality of
the video I've been getting with them.

Corentin

Signature

Reply to this Message

mike.guasch@gmail.com - 27 Oct 2006 22:02 GMT

Hi Michael

Thanks for the input.
I checked the Skype website, and the current version is 2.0 for Mac and
2.5 for Windows.
I will read further and try to learn more.

Thanks

> Hi Mike,
>
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
>
> ***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

Reply to this Message

Mac Forum / Applications / Other MS Products / October 2006

Using Messenger on a Mac