Questions on Messages (fka iChat)

[tuqqer]

I have always used iChat heavily over the years. If I'm in front of my Mac, it's on. I use it for texting, SMS texting, audio chats, video chats, screen sharing, passing on files, the whole gamut. As a quick communication tool, I find it invaluable.

However, now with Messages, I'm quite confused by all of the different protocols and ways Messages now works. When PC users are using AIM, everything works: file transfers, showing images in the message window. But if they're using, I'm guessing, Google Talk and whatever else Messages now takes on, most things just don't work, with the exception of text and SMS text.

I've been looking around to find a white paper on exactly which protocols support which features, but haven't found anything complete yet. My guess is that, if I want everyone on my Buddy List to have access to all of the features, they would need to use AIM?

Any insights into this mess, most appreciated

[Spiff]

Yeah, it's a mess. I played with it for a bit about 6 months ago. It looks like Messages can be signed in to different protocols all at once. Make sure that you have all your accounts signed in (bonjour, AIM, etc etc). I found that I was not signed in to AIM, which is what made my life difficult. As to google and the like, I really don't know. Hopefully some one else here can answer that.