Mac OS X Leopard - ARCAism

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CHAPTER 12 iCHAT
To get an AIM account from AOL, you’ll need to go to http://aim.com, select the Get a
Screen Name option, and go through the registration on that site. Being a faithful Mac user, you
may opt to get a .Mac account instead.
NOTE There are two reasons to go the .Mac route instead of the AIM route. First, Leopard
can take advantage of .Mac in many ways, and if you wish to take advantage of all these, you’ll
need a .Mac account anyway. Second, AOL has been around for a very long time, and all usernames
must be unique, so you stand a much better chance of getting a username that doesn’t
resemble scdmeye27653 or some other unrecognizable mess if you go through .Mac, where
there are likely more sensible screen names available.
To get a .Mac username, you just need to sign up for the .Mac trial (at http://mac.com). Even
if you choose not to extend the .Mac trial offer, the name you choose when you register will still
be valid indefinitely for iChat.
Once you have an account, go to the Accounts tab of iChat’s preferences, as shown in Figure
12-1. Click the little + button beneath the Accounts column. This will open up a sheet for
you to enter your account information, as shown in Figure 12-2.
On the Account Setup sheet, you first must pick your account type. This will either be .Mac
Account, AIM Account, Jabber Account, or Google Talk Account. Below that, you will be asked
for your username (Member Name, Account Name) and password. Additionally, if you are using
a Jabber server, you will be prompted to enter the server information. The Get an iChat Account
option will take you to the .Mac registration page in your web browser.
When you have entered the required information, click Done, and your new account will
appear in the Accounts column of the Accounts tab in iChat’s preferences.
NOTE There is one other type of account that iChat can use that does not need to be
configured—that’s Bonjour. The Bonjour account will automatically use your Leopard account
info to identify you and will find any other iChat users on your LAN who have their Bonjour
account activated. Bonjour is a great way to IM people in your organization a few offices away,
or one of your children upstairs in their room blaring music loudly with their door closed.
Figure 12-1. iChat’s Accounts preferences