Mac chat and file share communities

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I noticed that most of the mac heads around use AIM for chat. Is there any chat client out there that lets you chat AIM, IRC, yahoo, and M$ messenger all form one app?



If not what's the best for each of these seperately. Can you even get M$ messenger for the mac? I've got a few PC buddies on M$ and I need something that will let me chat with them.



Also, what are your favorite file sharing apps for the mac? Do you all prefer Carracho, Hotline, Kazaa... etc etc, and what do you use to talk to these file sharing newtorks?



I might switch another person (can you believe it???) but he won't go without a serius file sharing community behind him.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    <a href="http://fire.sourceforge.net/"; target="_blank">Fire</a> can handle similtaneous connections to AIM®, ICQ®, Yahoo!® , IRC, MSN® and Jabber IM.



    <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/mac/messenger/messenger_default.asp?navindex=s15"; target="_blank">MSN Messenger</a> for Mac is free and an easy way to take advantage of the full power of instant messaging.



    Personally, I use IRC for chatting. Remember that you can use your AOL screename with iChat.



    Barto



    [ 02-26-2003: Message edited by: Barto ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Thanks, that's great to know, for some reason I though that Messenger was a windows only proposition, ah well, I suppose only Access is, dammit, if mac office had Access I could probably get away without having to use VPC. That's OK though, I need an excuse to put solitaire on my computer, I mean how can anyone achieve true office productivity without solitaire?



    Now there are the file sharing contenders to consider: Kazaa, limewire... etc etc, what's the best place to be for a mac user and what's the best program/client to get you there? I don't suppose there are any one stop fits all clients out there like there are for chat?
  • Reply 3 of 18
    Check out proteus.



    I really like it. It suports quite a few.



    It works really well and the interface is great.





    Proteus Rocks.
  • Reply 4 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Thanks stevegongrui and barto too, I'll check those out.
  • Reply 5 of 18
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    direct connect works well also... so does good old hotline
  • Reply 6 of 18
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    In my opinion, the best pure file share client is <a href="http://www.acquisitionx.com/"; target="_blank">Acquisition</a>. It r0x0r very much.



    Barto
  • Reply 7 of 18
    Yes, I have to agree that acquisition is the best file sharing for mac I've ever used.



    Its UI is well designed and it searches on quite a few servers.



    I never really understood what's so good about Direct Connect. Everyone says its good but I personally haven't found it very efficient. The way that one has to choose a place to connect to and then search the files instead of typing in the file names themselves.





    Also, I don't personally like Fire so much as the interface looks more crude than proteus and there are less features.



    If you use M$N messenger often, Proteus or Fire is a must. I constantly get disconnected with M$N whereas I've been using Proteus for about 2 months now and it has never done that.





    Tell me what you all think
  • Reply 8 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Well, I've got acquisitin installed but it doesn't seem to do anything. Mebbe my connection is just very slow toady, but it just spins and spins searching a term and doesn't return anything? Also, where is the public folder? This was much easier on the PC.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    I like Aquisitions UI, but I've had really poor results trying to download stuff (have a DSL connection). It shows lots of files for the search, but is rarely able to download them.



    On the other hand, Limewire has a poor interface, but (for me) has been very reliable at actually downloading the stuff.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>Well, I've got acquisitin installed but it doesn't seem to do anything. Mebbe my connection is just very slow toady, but it just spins and spins searching a term and doesn't return anything? Also, where is the public folder? This was much easier on the PC.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    What do you need the "public folder" for? (Not sure what you're referring to. You can set the download folder and shared folders in Acquisition's preferences.



    Acquisition is a Gnutella client, so you have to wait until it's connected to enough servers before searching. Often, the longer you wait, the better your results. Of course, now they have "ultrapeer" nodes or something, so that goes a way to alleviate the problem.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Kazaa on the PC has a my shared folder option, I meant something like that.



    I've got carracho but it just looks like a dog, can't do anything with it yet.



    I've got chat sorted out nicely, but the file sharing on the mac doesn't seem to be as easy as it should be.



    Hotline, limewire... lemme try those next.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    cyclecycle Posts: 187member
    i started with hotline about 4 years ago



    a year of collecting - a little more than 2 years of server



    it was november 2002 when kdx became my main p2p network - server is cool - i get more than i want



    using hotline rarely



    february 2003 hotline 1.9 (x native) came out..i read the eula...no way...spyware and tracking



    using hotline only in emergency situations



    a few days ago - direct connect flys to me



    my review...its big...yah...its easy...its not too reliable...poeple u download from vanish when u reach the point u say...gagaga...now i have it!!...yep



    i have to test it..but it seems like a very good source when u know exactly what you want - search and suck



    i came across many apps like limewire...carracho..etc...they are not useful..for me...its like yah...i dont like the interface..i need that global feature...i never finish my downloads



    so kdx and directconnect is unbeatable..sometimes hotline



    i think xnap is wonderful too...but its a very demanding java app
  • Reply 13 of 18
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    Matsu, Hotline is along the same lines as Carracho. You can't search for a file the way you can with Kazaa or Limewire. You have to join a server, then beg for an account by uploading porn or warez.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    No problems. I can supply MP3 from a huge inventory of my own CD's or I can supply pr0n by grabbing it off Kazaa and then uploading it to a server.



    PM me with good server recommends, Matsu needs pluggins and any other expensive apps you can think of.



    Actually I gave acquisition another try, and the results were respectable, which file sharing services does it poll anyway? I have to play with it a bit to figure out how to get it to set criteria, ie, audio or video or programs, and how to get more detail, like mac only programs versus windows versions etc etc... but it doesn't look so bad now.
  • Reply 15 of 18
    It really depends on what you want to get, for big huge files I fire up good old trusty virtual PC and use iMesh which connects to the kazaa network. For smaller files such as mp3's I use direct connect. The best Mac p2p client available right now has got to be Direct Connect IMO. I have tried every p2p application available for the mac and nothing does it better than Direct Connect for the stuff I want.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    frawgzfrawgz Posts: 547member
    [quote]Originally posted by Matsu:

    <strong>Actually I gave acquisition another try, and the results were respectable, which file sharing services does it poll anyway? I have to play with it a bit to figure out how to get it to set criteria, ie, audio or video or programs, and how to get more detail, like mac only programs versus windows versions etc etc... but it doesn't look so bad now.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Acquisition connects to Gnutella servers, namely Limewire, Bearshare, Gnucleus. It came out after Limewire went open source.
  • Reply 17 of 18
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    My Carracho server is free huge and fast. 131.128.123.77 currently. The Jaguar's Roar!



    If only there were as many other cool servers as me on Carracho.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I'm thinking of providing a Carracho server myself. What I can offer is MP3's on demand, but I hear the pr0n is really the glue that binds file sharing transactions, much like cigarettes in a prison. Sadly, I don't have enough pr0n for you wankers... must fire up the PC and DL a bunch so we can get this thing started.
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