Possible to use iChat for Msn chat?

BandofBrothers

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Hey guys,

Quick question really - is it possible to use iChat for msn messenger type conversations?

I have a gmail account that I use on a windows pc for msn messenger (for chatting to friends via instant messaging). I have done a bit of googling on the matter, and it appears you have to use hacks or 3rd party software?

Thanks for any help:smashin:
 
Not sure if this will work but a google suggests whacking this into iChat:

Account type: Jabber
Server: xmpp.messenger.live.com
Port : 5222 or 5223 (try either one but 5223 is the SSL port and is preferable)
Account name: <your Windows Live account name>
Password: <your Windows Live account name>

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3744700?start=0&tstart=0
 
It may be the case that you will be able to use Messages to engage with msn Messenger accounts. Microsoft recently opened up public access to its Messenger IM network via XMPP, enabling Apple and others to build open clients capable of interacting with Microsoft users.

iChat supports instant text messaging over either iMessage, XMPP/Jingle or OSCAR (AIM) protocol. As of February, 2012, iChat has been discontinued, to be replaced in future versions of Mac OS X by Messages.

Support for Microsoft's MSM/Windows Live IM network was previously absent from iChat. Microsoft's move to support open XMPP may explain why Apple didn't build in support for Microsoft's previous, proprietary Messenger network. Apple has separately worked with Microsoft to support its Exchange Server protocols, so it was likely privy to Microsoft's Messenger plans.

Apple has used XMPP to power push notifications in iOS and Mac OS X, enabling a mechanism for supporting third party app notifications and support for FaceTime and iMessage.

iChat users should be able to add Messenger accounts and directly interact with Messenger users now that Microsoft Messenger enables open XMPP access.

As it stands now, you'd need to use Jabber in order to fascilitate msn messaging via iChat:

iChat to MSN Through Jabber » All Forces

Jabber is an open alternative to consumer IM services. Unlike these commercial services, Jabber is a decentralized network. It works similar to email servers in which anyone can download the Jabber server application and run it in their server to offer Jabber. Because of this, there is no global username, there is unique usernames on each server thus you can have multiple jabber accounts on different servers. The username is in the form of an email address. So, if I get a jabber account at jabberserverx.com then my jabber username would be [email protected]. Each Jabber server can be configured differently to offer support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, IRC, Yahoo, Email Gateway and even File Transfer. You can find a grid of the Jabber servers and its supported protocols here. Why should you care about this? You should care because it's open, free and it's seems to be the only way to bring Yahoo and MSN Messenger into iChat.
 
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Alternatively there is of course the Microsoft official man client.
 
Yeah I have used the official client in the past and it always used to crash and seemed very bloated and slow lol :-}
 

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