Apple ID types and their uses as AIM Screen Names

Hi,

Apple used to have two methods of creating an Apple ID.

One was to register and outside email and login with that.

The other was to create an @mac.com ID

This could be a trial account at first or a Paid for account. The Paid accounts gave you access to extra features.

The Trial accounts would automatically end but the ID would still work for iChat as a valid AIM Screen Name (you added it as if it were AIM and used the Apple Password.

Lapsed accounts would also retain their ability to works as AIM Screen Names

Later came the MobileMe Service that was also paid for but also came with a Trial Period.

The Trial had to be cancelled before the Trial ended or you were charged and no longer worked as AIM Screen Names

Lapsed account also no longer worked if not paid for.

At the change over between there two services you could elect to link any @mac.com Account with and @me.com ID.

For Mail they worked as one ID but in iChat and later Messages, they worked as separate IDs as Valid Screen Names even though the Passwords were the same.

More recently we have iCloud that has less services linked to it but are free.

Older Apple IDs can be linked to iCloud and this includes those listed above and any other based on other emails outside of Apple's set up.

This may mean you have @mac.com, @me.com (f linked to iCloud) and an @icloud ID linked together at Apple that worked as separate Screen Names in the iChat app.

You may also have an external email that you linked to iCloud that may have given you an @me.com Address if early enough and a later @icloud.com one as well that are linked but, again, are separate Valid Screen Names for the AIM service.

You will have noticed the italic "worked" in the second paragraph above.

At the first of July 2014 Apple and AIM changed this OS X: Using me.com or mac.com IDs with AIM in iChat requires OS X v10.7.2 or later - Apple Support

OS X 10.7.2 brings a change to iChat 6.

At this point Messages logged in to both AIM and Apple to be able to Confirm it was you logging in.

iChat 1 though 5 and the early iChat 6.0 does not have this double login check ability an the older IDS don't work.

In truth neither do @iCloud.com ones but the older apps do not list adding the options of "@icloud.com" Screen Names.

These names all work on later versions of Messages and the last version of iChat 6 as stated above.

8:50 pm Monday; April 4, 2016