Messages app and What it Can Do. Mavericks

Hi,

Messages is one of Apple's communication apps (the other being FaceTime).

It can have 5 types of Accounts.

When you open it for the first time it will ask you for an Apple ID.

Once this is set up the Messages app > Preferences > Accounts show two default accounts (you can never delete these one Disable or remove the Apple ID in the case of the iMessages one). These are the Bonjour account which by default is disabled and the iMessages account. Bonjour works to other Macs on your LAN.

After that you can add AIM/AOL accounts, Jabber accounts via the "Other" option and Yahoo.

The Choice dialogue box also offers Google. This is a Jabber server but it does not conform to the standard Server naming protocol so it gets it's own choice.

Some History to explain a little further.

Previously (before Mountain Lion) the App was called iChat.

iChat 1 was a Text only app which worked with AIM and Bonjour (although it was called Rendezvous back then). It was not actually called iChat 1 either.

iChat 2 brought Video and Audio only chat abilities.

iChat 3 added Jabber. (some resetting allowed it to work with Google).

At this point Bonjour, AIM and Jabber accounts can Video or Audio Only to other Mac. The AIM account can also Video to AIM on PC users.

At iChat 6 a Text Only Yahoo option is added. This is in Lion (OS X 10.7.x)

The Numbering continues in Mountain Lion when the App becomes Messages and adds the iMessages account.

iMessages is Text only in Mountain Lion and Mavericks. (when you can see the Video icon when chat to a Contact it invokes the FaceTime App).

You can send certain files and Pic-in-chats.

Bonjour is Text, Video, Audio Only and Screen Sharing to LAN based Macs at your location that are using Messages or iChat. If you LAN is divided into Subnets then only your subnet can be seen.

AIM is Text, Video, Audio Only and Screen Sharing to other Macs using Messages or iChat. Certain Apple IDs ending in @mac.com @me.com if linked to iCloud and @icloud.com will also work as valid AIM names if the password is 16 characters or less.

It can Text to several other Mac based AIM clients and to PC version of AIM and web based AIM Logins.

An AIM account can also do SMS but ONLY to certain Carriers in the United States.

Jabber including Google and Facebook Chat is Text, Video, Audio Only and Screen Sharing to other Macs. Again it will Text to various other logins for those servers. There was a PC app called GoogleTalk that you cannot Video to but you can text chat. The same as you can text chat to someone with Facebook Login and the Chat part enabled.

Yahoo must use a Yahoo ID. (The server works with several different type of valid ID not issued by Yahoo)

It is Text only (not even File Transfers that applies to the others).

Video chat can be up to 4 people in the Bonjour, AIM and Jabber accounts.

As I mentioned early it invokes FaceTime in the iMessages account and the Yahoo account is Text only.

Audio Only chats can be up to 10 people in those same three account types.

Screen Sharing is only 1-1 but works in the AIM, Jabber and Bonjour Accounts.

7:47 pm Thursday; December 25, 2014