iChat AV for Windows?

jwennet

jwennet

Registered
Anyone here of any rumors if this is in the works? The latest iChat and AOL IM (windows) work very sketchily together. Kind of hit or miss.

Thanks,

J
 
Well if iChat AV for Windows was available it would be at the same price $30 that Jaguar users had to pay for it when it became a 1.0. AOL offers video messaging for that price as well so it is up to the user. Other than compatibility, I don't see the advantage Apple will gain.
 
I don't think they would ever do a Windows version. First, because iChat is made in Cocoa which there is no way to convert a Cocoa app to any other platform (iTunes was made in Carbon which is the most easiest to port). Second, iTunes was/is an awesome piece of software. Pretty much every Mac user uses iTunes to manage their music (not much else out there). iChat, on the otherhand, is a decent IM app, but there are other apps that many people prefer such as Adium, Proteus, Fire, etc. iChat only supports iSight, and do you really think they'd expect all their PC customers to buy an iSight, along with $30 iChat? (well there are hacks to get your other USB cameras to work...). So I think the chance is extremely small for an iChat for Windows. It's just not top quality software like iTunes (which was first to have the digital music too - iChat has nothing). :)
 
Actually, Cocoa is based upon the OpenStep APIs, which were ported to the Windows environment pre Mac OS X. Of course, it's been 4 years since that API was brought to the Mac and made in to what is now Cocoa, but I bet Apple hedged their bets and kept the API running on Intel hardware - just in case.

Either way, iChat for Windows makes economical sense. Remember - why did Apple release iTunes for Windows? To sell more iPods. Right now, the iSight camera is a super cool device when paired with the iChat AV sofware. Unfortunately, it's Mac only. That means Apple can only target this product to the 3% of Mac users out there. Making a Windows version of iChat that works only with the iSight is a no brainer. Apple probably doubles the iSight sales right out the chute. Plus, the community of people with iChat AV/iSight increases exponentially, making it a more viable means of video communication for every one -Mac users included.

At the very least, if Apple doesn't go forward with an iChat AV for Windows, they should at least work with AOL to make iChat/AIM video chats work better together. Then of course, they could bundle AIM with the iSight for Windows users.

Really, if Apple is interested in making money, opening up the iSight to Windows users make more sense than making the iPod available to Windows users....and we all know how that turned out....
 
But the user would need to have firewire, which MOST PCs still don't have as standard.
 
Why not make it USB 2 compatible? Just as fast (if not faster) than firewire. They package the iPod with the two cables.

Although, most of the PCs I've seen over the past two and a half years did/do have firewire built in, if for no other reason that the leverage the Digital Video market. Plus, the PCI firewire cards are cheap enough to package with the firewire hardware (Umax did this with at least one of their scanners).

Well, I'm wishing for iChat AV for windows this X-mas.

Happy Holidays All,

J
 
Well, I don't think it's gonna happen. There's plenty of 'good enough' video chat hard- and software on the Windows side. Most of the software you get for free, and most of the hardware's cheaper. So I don't think the market's _that_ big for Apple. If they do it, however, I think they'd almost _have_ to add USB2 to the connection options in order to maximise the ease-of-access.
 
iChat doesn't just work with iSight. It will work with most Firewire cams and there's a hack for USB cams that works very well.
I use an older FirewireDirect Firewire webcam that works great.
I talk a few times a week to a couple friends in another country, both using a PC with AIM, and we have no problems.
 
And there were plenty of good (subjective term) mp3 jukeboxes available with mp3 players for Windows before the iPod as well. Apple clearly has a better product, and with very little modification, could have a hit with a cross platform product instead of a Mac only product.

As for the USB 2 connection, that seems simple enough. If the iPod can have a Firewire/USB2 connector, seems that they could incorporate it in to the iSight just as easily.

Even if iChat doesn't get ported, Apple still should work to make the iSight compatible with Windows users, even if it means working with AOL to make AIM Video chats more seamless with iChat.

I've got one, and would love for some people to talk with!

fryke said:
Well, I don't think it's gonna happen. There's plenty of 'good enough' video chat hard- and software on the Windows side. Most of the software you get for free, and most of the hardware's cheaper. So I don't think the market's _that_ big for Apple. If they do it, however, I think they'd almost _have_ to add USB2 to the connection options in order to maximise the ease-of-access.
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What I mean is rather that video chat on the PC already works. The iSight and iChat AV don't really bring something new to it. Better quality? Yes, perhaps, but you can already get some FW cameras etc. With iTunes and iPod, it was different. The iPod brought ease of use for big song databases and FW transfer, where the others only had very, very slow USB 1.1 transfer. For these reasons, I don't see iSight/iChat AV with the same potential on the Windows side.
 
Has anyone tried using the iSight on a PC.
PC users, seeing the quality of iChat, and the upcoming new version with multiple video chats(3) and 10 audio chats, may give them reason to switch. There is no program available for this with the quality of iChat.
 
Video wise it somewhat works under Windows (I would assume 2K or XP only) and Linux (libdc1394 library required of course). The built-in mic is what doesn't function at all under those two OSes. I've heard of people who run it with Yahoo!'s Messenger webcam feature with ok results. I've also heard of it working with MSN Messenger.

I saw one being used on an XP Pro machine with that Windows Movie Maker application. They used it as a 'capture device' and it was a bit hit or miss. Depended on the settings used...some worked and some were a mess. That was basically the end result of some friends with way too much money and time on their hands.

(( http://www.b4k4.co.uk/ ))
The iSight is plugged in. Windows cannot find a driver for it, but it is happy enough to use the generic 1394 driver. Fine, I can deal with that. However, you view the image and its brightness is off the scale. This could be a major problem.

Monsieur Google didn’t throw up much help. Against my better judgement I logged-out of my MSN transport on Psi to log-in to MSN Messenger; luckily there are some controls in there for your cam’. Down came the brightness, a little tweak with the saturation and we were away – it works in Messenger. Close that down and go back to the Generic 1394 Desktop Camera – w00t! The settings stick.

So there you have it—if you want to use an iSight in Windows (XP at least), you can, well, for video at least. Out of the box it isn’t too great, but using Messenger once will make those settings stick.

(If you’re that opposed to using Messenger, or want a little more control, there are several other programs that do the job. The one I tried out was IC Capture which is primarily a tool for saving images and videos from your camera, but also lets you tweak the settings of the iSight.
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I use my Sony Handicam for a Webcam, and it works perfectly well in Yahoo!

I don't think iChat has anything to offer PC users. I think PC users are already used to having a far better IM selection; MSN Messenger 7, though outrageously bloated and ugly, has everything (and more) that iChat does. iChat is a nice ADDITION to the OS, but it couldn't sell iSights on its own. I don't even use it, and I'm a heavy AV user as far as chat goes. If iChat would let through connections that weren't broadband, then I'd use it. If it connected to MSN or Yahoo! networks, I'd use it.

It doesn't. There are so many good programs that do it all on the PC, Yahoo! Messenger on the PC is even MORE pronouncedly better on the PC than MSN is (on the Mac it seems like it's been compiled for OS 9).

The only thing that iChat is better for is AIM, and it's a dying network.
 
For Christmas I got my mom a Logitech Webcam 2 pack (one for her, one for her friend). She installed it the other day and "attempted" to video chat with one of her other friends. On AIM, there was audio, but no video. On MSN Messenger, there was video, but no audio. We gave up after almost an hour of fidgeting with it.

From what I've read on various boards, this is all too common using Windows Video IM programs.

Contrast that with Mac users using iChat AV. I've yet to hear of anyone having issues of not hearing/seeing the other person using iChat AV on both ends.

The current PC selection, while varied, is sub par compared to iChat AV.



texanpenguin said:
I use my Sony Handicam for a Webcam, and it works perfectly well in Yahoo!

I don't think iChat has anything to offer PC users. I think PC users are already used to having a far better IM selection; MSN Messenger 7, though outrageously bloated and ugly, has everything (and more) that iChat does. iChat is a nice ADDITION to the OS, but it couldn't sell iSights on its own. I don't even use it, and I'm a heavy AV user as far as chat goes. If iChat would let through connections that weren't broadband, then I'd use it. If it connected to MSN or Yahoo! networks, I'd use it.

It doesn't. There are so many good programs that do it all on the PC, Yahoo! Messenger on the PC is even MORE pronouncedly better on the PC than MSN is (on the Mac it seems like it's been compiled for OS 9).

The only thing that iChat is better for is AIM, and it's a dying network.
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I'd personally rather not see iChat AV on Windows. Would be a waste of time in that overstuffed market...
 
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