I would like to know if anyone has been able to reinstall iChat after upgrading to mountain lion? There are lots of features in iChat that iMessage just doesn't have and I would like to keep using them.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7)
iChat will not run on Mountain Lion.
What features are these to which you are referring and are you sure that Messages just hasn't put them in a different place?
With the previous OS upgrade, Apple did away with FrontRow. Shortly there after, users figured out how to re-install the app. There were other apps like this as well.
I am just a big user of iChat screen share, iChat 3-party video chat, ichat 10 person audio conferencing, and iChat Theater. Not to mention that iChat can SMS anyone, not just iOS users. All of these great iChat features are not in iMessage.
I haven't had much use for most of those features as the only one with whom I ever use iChat is my mother. However, I know that screen sharing is still available because we were just using it. From the Messages icon in your menu bar, simply do the following:
Using the second of those, I had no trouble sharing my Mom's screen earlier today, both with her using iChat this morning and after she upgraded to Mountain Lion this afternoon. I will bet that the 3-party video chat 10-person audio chats also still work. Again, I can't test those because I don't have mutliple people with whom I can use them, but I would suspect that it is simply a matter of inviting those multiple people into to the chat sessions.
However I don't know about iChat Theater. I don't even know what that one is.
By the way, I just now discovered something else. When in Messages, if it is not showing already, under the Buddies menu there is also an option to "Show Buddy List" Select this and it brings up the same buddy list with ALL of the same options as were there under iChat.
Just a little bit more on that. To get to the Buddy list, you must first bring up a New Message window and then select a buddy in that window. Until you do that, ALL of the option under the Buddies menu are grayed out.
Would you be willing to try the 3 person video chat and let me know if that works? I was thinking that if it uses facetime, then it wouldn't work because Facetime doesn't do multiperson video, but based on what you are saying, it just might.
As for the "options" you mentioned earlier, are those the Audio, Video, and Screensharing icons at the bottom of the ichat buddy list? Similar to those in ichat?
Messages still basically uses the old iChat but with a different name.
It does not use Facetime.
Same buddy list, same screen sharing, and although I haven't tried the 3 way lately, the mulitple icons are still there.
From the videos I have seen online, when a user launches iMessage and then wants to video chat, the app opens Facetime to do so. Is this not how the final version works?
No, that is not how the final version works. When i was one with my mother a few hours ago, we were video chatting directly in Messages. FaceTime never came up.
@Geoff C, the Buddy List is exactly the same one as was present in iChat with exactly the same functions. Pull it up and look for yourself. 🙂
It looks like my worries about iMessage not being able to do these other things was in another discussion. It appears that iMessage can do all the features of iChat.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3872669?start=0&tstart=0
It is interesting that Apple doesn't display these features more because Skype now charges premium for multiperson audio/video.
I had not upgraded to Mountain Lion yet because I had not found anyone who knew about these features or could validate them. Now that you have helped me, I am excited to make the upgrade and see for myself. Thanks!!!
Geoff,
Some people have been saying some misinformation to you, maybe because they're not fully reading or comprehending what you are saying.
YES! iMessages will use FaceTime if you click the video button in the messages area.
iMessages only can: FaceTime, Text, file share.
iMessages does not use the features that are normally attributed with iChat or Instant Messaging in general.
For those features, you will need to log into Gtalk, AIM, Jabber, Yahoo!, or Bonjour.
once you sign into those, you will have access to a buddy list, status messages, Screen sharing, 3 way Video Chat (with the fun little animations and effects from photobooth), and 3 way audio chat.
If you connect with Facebook, sadly, it does not support these features, even if your other friend is using Messages as well.
In a nut shell, Yes, iMessages uses Facetime to video chat, and is not associated with a buddy list or Video Chat through Messages.
Messages ADDS the iMessages client to OSX (this is a huge get for anyone with an iOS device). HOWEVER! Messages can still be used like an instant messaging client as long as you sign into an instant messaging client that will support the features you want.
In no way does the added feature to have iMessages in Messages hinder the ability to sign into AIM with your Apple ID and use it like you used to in iChat. The only way you could use your apple id in ichat was through aim. Now you have the ADDED benefit of using iMessages to sync with your's and your friend's iOS device.
TheSmokeMonster wrote:
Some people have been saying some misinformation to you, maybe because they're not fully reading or comprehending what you are saying.
I think the OP was concerned that Messages, as a program, no longer had the features that iChat had. As Joseph Kritz explained, the features the OP was looking for are still there. It seems pretty clear that everyone understood the situation.
You're welcome.
Glad to help you get it straightened out.
reinstall ichat after mountain lion
