Is there an Instant Messenging client for Windows that will communicate with Apple's iChat over Rendezvous/ZeroConfig?

January 19, 2004 8:56 AM

Is there an Instant Messenging client for Windows that will communicate with Apple's iChat over Rendezvous/ZeroConfig?

We have a couple PC users (WinXP) in a mostly-OS X environment. Lots of folks use iChat for quick IMs around the office. While iChat does tie into AOL, we want to keep the IM traffic local. Google has not turned up much in the way of information.

posted by jazon to computers & internet (7 comments total)

check with the trillian guys. they must be working on it.
posted by specialk420 at 10:29 AM on January 19, 2004

There was talk of iChat supporting Jabber way back when. I don't know whatever became of it.
posted by mkultra at 10:31 AM on January 19, 2004

Porchdog's Howl enables Zeroconf/Rendezvous on Windows. That seems like half the solution, maybe.
posted by anildash at 11:16 AM on January 19, 2004

I've played around with the java implementation of Rendezvous and you can see the iChat users and their usernames.

Since iChat people can be hit through the AIM gateways, you can tack @mac.com on to their username and contact them that way.

But you don't get any of the iChat cutesy icons or what not, just standard AIM text.
posted by Argyle at 2:15 PM on January 19, 2004

Not exactly an answer to your question, but perhaps a solution for your problem: At work we run an IRC server internally for all our behind-the-firewall chit-chatting needs. (We have lots of remote employees, so this actually is a huge part of our daily communication.) IRC isn't (just) for text-console geeks any more; there are plenty of gooey desktop IRC apps nowadays (e.g., X-Chat for Win and X11, Conversation for OSX)—including several multiprotocol beasts (e.g., Trillian for Windows, Fire for OSX) which will allow you to use the internal IRC for work and still keep in touch with your outside-the-firewall AOL/iChat friends. (Server software: we're using dancer-ircd at the moment, but there are dozens of variants.)
posted by dsandl at 7:27 PM on January 19, 2004

An alternative solution would be to use a multiuser talk program like ytalk, which allows for point-to-point messenging. I like it a lot better than any IM programs but then I might just be too nostalgic of the good ol' times before IM became popular.
posted by gyc at 10:17 PM on January 19, 2004

I use iChat, and connect with my Windows "friends" on AOL Instant Messenger. Smilies work.
posted by squirrel at 10:22 PM on January 19, 2004