New to mac: ichat vs facetime

Question

I just got my first macbook last week and im just starting to figure things out. Many of my friends have older macs which have ichat on them and mine does not. Am i able to video chat with them through facetime or imessage using my apple id. I have tried to add their ichat adresses on imessage but it wont work. Do i have to download ichat and am i able to if i want to vid chat with them.
thanks,
josh

Answer 1

HI,
So you have a Valid Screen Name.
You went to Messages Menu > Preferences > Accounts and used the Plus icon lower left.
You then fill in the AIM option.
You clicked Done.
Then you need to go to the Window Menu and use CMD + 1 for the "Buddies" option
Or use the option in the General section of the Preferences to unlink the Buddy List from other Account's List and then use the CMD + # for your @Mac.com list
You should now have a Buddy List that looks  a bit like this.
Uploaded with Skitch!
The Title of the window will either be "AIM Buddy List"  or the name that you put in the Description field in the Preferences  (Mine reads "Main AIM Screen Name")
The groups may not be visible (See View Menu > Use Groups)
They may have different titles as I have changed mine.
To Add Buddies you use the + icon lower Left.
There an Add Buddy /Add group menu choice first then you will see this
Uploaded with Skitch!
The blue highlighted box behind the drop down is where you add the Screen Name of your Buddy.
If yo are using groups you will need to specify which one in the Drop down (Second line).
The First Name and Last Name Lines will create an Address Book /Contacts entry.
If you have the person in the Contacts List but do not have their Screen Name on their Card use that little  downward arrow button next to Last Name
Trying to "re-add" a name that is already in the Address Book/Contacts without linking it to an existing card will  fail to add it to the Buddy list.
7:55 PM      Monday; August 27, 2012
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