Adium vs iChat

[AnthroAndStargate]

So I was wondering if/when Adium ever will be able to videoconference (2 and 3 party) with iChat users? I REALLY love iChat + Chax plugin but everyone I know swears by Adium.

Why do you all love Adium so much? iChat is nice cause its really well integrated into the OS and the video chatting is hands down the best thing i've ever seen on ANY program.

 

[TheStu]

Well, Adium 2 is supposed to have video support.

I started using Adium so I wouldn't have to have 3 IM clients open at school (Yahoo, AIM, MSN) at all times so I could collaborate with my classmates. After that I started enjoying to use it since at my apartment I couldn't always get iChat to connect to AIM, but Adium could. I liked the tabbed interface for the chats for when I was talking to multiple people, and the narrower Buddy Window as compared to iChat.

So, that is why I like it, plus when I was on Windows, I used Trillian and when I switched to OS X I found Adium when looking for replacement Apps.

 

[AnthroAndStargate]

Ah I see. How is its integration into OS X? Does it work with address book like iChat does? Also does it show when someones online when they send you an e-mail (in Mail) if you have the SN in Addy Book.

Just curious. Do you know if Adium 2 is gonna support multi-user chat like iChat.

Also for anyoen whos interested, Chax is a good iChat plugin. Growl support, allows you to have one buddy list for multiple clients, etc. If anyone know anythign better then this for iChat please tell! Im trying to decide the best client to use

 

[aphex]

I stay on Adium 98% of the time, and switch to iChat w/ Chax for those infrequent times i need the webcam. Even with Chax, iChat is just too large for me to use on a regular basis. I love that I can make Adium tiny and inconspicuous.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: aphex
I stay on Adium 98% of the time, and switch to iChat w/ Chax for those infrequent times i need the webcam. Even with Chax, iChat is just too large for me to use on a regular basis. I love that I can make Adium tiny and inconspicuous.

bingo!

i only use ichat when webcamming is needed, otherwise its adium with AIM, icq, gtalk, yahoo, and windows live...

 

[AnthroAndStargate]

So do either of you know if adium 2 integrates with address book and if it will be able to do 3-4 person webcam conferences like ichat?

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: AnthroAndStargate
So do either of you know if adium 2 integrates with address book and if it will be able to do 3-4 person webcam conferences like ichat?

http://trac.adiumx.com/wiki/VoiceAndVideo

 

[xanis]

I personally don't like iChat. I've been using Adium since day one when I got my MBP and I've never looked back. For those rare times I want to video chat I use Skype.

 

[TheStu]

The integration is actually really great... In each of the chat windows, there is a button that is either Safari's or Firefox's icon, it depends on your default browser (so it will check that, a minor touch, but nice) that will then if you click it, load in a link from the currently selected tab, with the link already set to the name of the tab.

It does integrate with Address Book and will pull the contact's picture from there as well as add their AIM to it.

It does not give you the handy clickable bubbles like iChat can when you have both of them open, at least I do not believe that it does. The people that I get email from are usually not on my buddy list, or if I am getting an email from them, they are usually not signed into AIM.

 

[headrush69]

I was a long time Adium user but switched to iChat.

I found early versions of iChat to be a little unstable but the current 4.x series has been rock solid.
One of the nice features that hooked me was the ability to start screen sharing (either direction) straight from the contact list.

With the addition of Chax many great UI improvements are added and using OpenFire i can use all the IM protocols in iChat (MSN, yahoo, icq, etc).

 

[sourceninja]

I think at some point I'm going to just abandon all other chat clients and go google talk. I've pruned back a few already, I no longer use yahoo, i'm trying to remove icq now, and I got rid of aol. Once I can dump msn I'll be all google talk, at that point I'll give iChat another go. Right now I love the native support and interface fo adium.

 

[AnthroAndStargate]

Originally posted by: headrush69
I was a long time Adium user but switched to iChat.

I found early versions of iChat to be a little unstable but the current 4.x series has been rock solid.
One of the nice features that hooked me was the ability to start screen sharing (either direction) straight from the contact list.

With the addition of Chax many great UI improvements are added and using OpenFire i can use all the IM protocols in iChat (MSN, yahoo, icq, etc).

Wait. Can you explain OpenFire? That sounds perfect. Also do you if it has QQ integration like Adium (the Chinese chat client). Do oyu know how to make Chax do the "all contacts" list better? it seems glitchy

 

[sourceninja]

From what I get openfire is a jabber server that you can run easily on a mac. Then you use jabber transports to connect to the other chat services.

So you run your own local chat server and use that to connect to the other networks.

 

[AnthroAndStargate]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
From what I get openfire is a jabber server that you can run easily on a mac. Then you use jabber transports to connect to the other chat services.

So you run your own local chat server and use that to connect to the other networks.

I assume this takes up a good bit of system resources?

 

[sourceninja]

That I have no idea, I've never done it.

 

[Kmax82]

Adium 1.3 just came out with a bunch of extra features.