Chat with iChat
Mac Tip #278/28-Feb-2007

After the last couple of Tips, Chat around the world and Set up iChat, you should be ready to chat. Connect to the Internet and open iChat.

Make yourself available

Choose Available from the iChat Status menu

Type a short message

Type a short message and press Return

Once you’re connected to the chat server any buddies who have their chat software running and are online show up in the Buddy List in dark text. Offline buddies may be displayed in light grey text. Look under the View menu for display options.

Double click a buddy’s name in the list, and then type a short message. Press Return to send it.

Accept or decline

The chattee accepts your message

A chat window opens, displaying your comments on one side and theirs on the other.

Send text or files

Type your side of the conversation into the text area at the bottom of the window and press Return to send. Send files, such as photos or other files by dragging them into the text area and pressing Return.

The file being transferred

A window shows the file being transferred

When the recipient clicked on that message a window popped-up, showing the file was being transferred.

To end a chat close the chat window.

That should get you started, but there are a few more tips yet about chatting. More next week.

You can sometimes find me available on iChat as mirazmac@aim.com.

I’d like to thank Tips reader Jo Fothergill for agreeing to chat with me so I could make some of the screenshots available in the online archive. Jo writes a blog called ‘out and about in aotearoa‘.