#Chat services for mac how to#
#Chat services for mac mac os x#

#Chat services for mac how to#

(For more on how to obtain such an address, see Five ways to remotely access a Mac.) Skype That means at least one of the parties needs to have an Apple router with NAT-PMP enabled or another companyвЂ™s router with UPnP turned on, as well as a publicly reachable IP address. Troubleshooting While iChat screen-sharing is relatively simple to set up on the Mac itself, it does require that certain ports be open on the sharing end of the connection. IChat squishes two remote screens into one local window.Additionally, all the Screen Sharing program commands you get when using Back to My Mac are disabled: no copy and paste, no adaptive/full quality switch, and no resizing. iChatвЂ™s rendition of screen sharing shows all remote monitors on a single local display, scrunching them to a tiny size even if you have multiple displays yourself. This is particularly troubling when that remote machine has two or more monitors. In iChat, you canвЂ™t stretch or otherwise control your view of the remote system.

This can set up a bit of a fight if youвЂ™re not careful. Both parties can move the cursor or type. IChatвЂ™s screen sharing starts an audio chat connection at the same time. Among its other disadvantages: You canвЂ™t share or view a screen in iChat if either party is using a version of OS X earlier than 10.5 it doesnвЂ™t handle multiple monitors as well as some other solutions you canвЂ™t copy and paste between machines and it may not work unless both ends of the connection have a publicly reachable IP address. Also, it requires someone to be on the other end of the connection BtMM doesnвЂ™t. Unfortunately, iChat provides less control than BtMM. IChat relies on the same underlying screen-sharing technology as Back to My Mac. That makes it particularly good for helping family members near and far with troubleshooting.

#Chat services for mac mac os x#

The advantage of iChat over other remote access options is that it could work between any two Macs, as long as both are running Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6. And if someone is at home when you need to access your Mac there, and that someone has the credentials to accept a chat-based screen-sharing session on your machine, you can use chat tools for that, too.

Two of the most widely available chat tools for the Mac-iChat and Skype-will let you do it. When you need remote access to one of your Macs, there are tools built into OS X, as well as dedicated software and services, that will help you do the job.Д«ut sometimes you need quick and easy access to someone elseвЂ™s Mac-a friend, colleague, or family member, perhaps-or you need to share your screen with them.