Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Lion Edition

Let the Chat Begin

As with any conversation, somebody has to talk first. In chat circles, that’s called inviting someone to a chat.

Figure 12-17. You’re being invited to a chat! Your buddy wants to have a typed chat (top left) or a spoken one (top right). To begin chatting, click the invitation window, type a response in the bottom text box if you like (for text chats), and click Accept (or press Return). Or click Block to lock out the person sending you messages—a good trick if someone’s harassing you.

They Invite You

If someone invites you to chat, iChat opens automatically and displays an invitation message like the one in Figure 12-17. If the person initiating a chat isn’t already in your buddy list, the note says, “[service] Message from [name of the person].”

(If you’ve set your status to Offline, on the other hand, you won’t see those messages invitations. You’ll see me.com and AIM invitations once you’re online again, but if the invites come from the other services, you’ve missed out.)

You Invite Them

To begin a chat:

• One-to-one typed conversations (instant messaging). To message someone, double-click the person’s name, type a quick invite (“You there?”), and press Return. You’ve just triggered what Apple calls an instant messaging session, which is a one-to-one affair.

  Tip

  If this person is on more than one chat network, open the flippy triangle and choose the account you want to ...