Screen Sharing in iChat / iMessage - not on PC?

So my question is how are we able to do screen share with iChat / iMessage using the google talk servers as I don't think Windows users can use this feature using a chat client - is it just tying it VNC or somthing in OSx?
(I've just figured out how to add the share screen feature back to iMessage (buddies list view) after it was removed. Hint - add agoogle talk user in iMessage preferences then hit command-1 and you will see the screen share option at the bottom of the buddy list.)

Hi,
The Screen Share feature is Buddy to Buddy (AIM to AIM or Jabber to Jabber) when the Buddy is using either iChat (4 and Above) or Messages in Mountain Lion.
You cannot do it to PCs.
You cannot do it to Jabber Accounts such as Google IDs when they are logged in via a web Browser.
In Messages you have to add an Non iMessage Account to have Buddy List.
This adds a "Buddies" item to the Window Menu of Messages.
In the General Section of the Messages Preferences is an items that refers to gathering the accounts into one List. Unticking this will separate out AIM, Bonjour, Jabber/Google and Yahoo Accounts in to separate Buddy lists.
Yahoo Accounts cannot Screen Share as they are Text Only.
Bonjour accounts can Screen Share as they can Video and Audio Only chat.
The process involves invoking the Apple Remote Desktop engine along side an standard Audio Only chat in iChat or Messages.
The Apple Remote Desktop bit is a VNC connection on a random port.
For this reason it is best to use UPnP on most routers or Port Mapping Protocol in Apple Base Stations.
8:27 PM Monday; March 25, 2013
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.3)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Similar Messages

No video or screen sharing on iChat 4 between identical MBP's and OS

Hi, like many others, i'm experiencing problems with audio/video calls and screen sharing on iChat 4.
It's really important since my dad lives abroad and is 80 years old, so i need to help him out by taking over control of his MacBookPro when he needs me to.
Here's our setup when it DID work:
We were both in my house, on my network, through my Airport Exreme. We're both running 2009 MacBook Pro's with OSX 10.5.8 on it, and were signed in to iChat through our google account (jabber).
Then he returned back to his home (i'm in Holland, he's in Austria), and since then we can only do text chats on iChat. Whenever we invite eachother for video chat or screen sharing, we get the same error message about a communication error, or telling us the other one 'didn't reply' or something like that. I'll copy-paste the exact message + error details the next time we try.
We tried to solve it by changing services, meaning i signed in through my @mac.com account and he signing in through his AIM account, but with no luck. Also AIM to AIM didn't help.
I'm still on my Airport Extreme, connected to a DSL modem which is branded by my provider, so no idea what it is.
He is on a Speedtouch ST585 wireless DSL router, which he also got from his provider.
Any settings we should check/change? i've read all sorts of stuff about port forwarding, SIP/NAT compatibility and UPNP but that all works rather confusing than clarifying..
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lexxy
Message was edited by: TheRealLexxy

HI,
Thomson-Alcatel, to give them their Full name, make the Speedtouch Series of Modems
As a Brand they will work with each other no matter if they are a Cable (non routing) modem or a Speedtouch DSL Modem.
So, 2 to 3 (or 3 to 2) will work as they are Alcatels
The computer 1 and computer 2 situation (with said modems) has about a 1 in 5 chance of working based on my personal knowledge of Version 4.3.5 firmware and mush less with later firmware from threads on this board.
The Airport Express does or can do something called Port Mapping Protocol.
It is turned On in the Airport Admin Utility > Internet pane > NAT tab
In some circumstances this can be an issue. (It open ports like UPnP does but in a different way) - IF - the Express in not in Bridge (Off) Mode.
Is the DSL modem you have Routes then the Express should be set to Bridge (Off) Mode so that there is only one DHCP server on your LAN (unless you set the devices to do Static routing)
You could try it without the Express, but I am sure you will get the same results.
Can your Dad reach any of the names in Table 1 http://www.ralphjohns.co.uk/ContactTesters.html ?
(He adds them to his Buddy list and tries Video chats (they Auto Answer) )
There maybe a conflict between the two lots of NAT at your end if the modem and Express are doing DHCP (Share An IP) and your Dad's Alcatel.
It may still be there if it is your modem only and his.
My Personal experience with an Thomson-Alcatel Speedtouch Modem, answering on these boards and doing regular testing with people and work Bosie on this forum which Defcom and I have been involved with - tells me it is the Speedtouch that is the problem.
8:02 PM Saturday; November 14, 2009
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Remove little window "my computer" screen when screen sharing with iChat?

Anyone know if it is possible to remove or minimize the little window when screen sharing with iChat? if you try to drag it off the screen, it just pops back. It does not seem possible to close it without getting booted out of the screen sharing.

As the "little Screen" is either your Desktop or the other Desktop depending which you have as the current one you are working in it seems silly to have no access to changing back and forth.
But as you say or rather imply it does sometimes occupy the space you want someone at the other end to see and you can not access that part of the screen or if the other end is trying to show you something it can be hidden my your own desktop.
AT present Not Even Chax does what you want.
7:31 PM Monday; March 10, 2008

Screen Sharing in iChat stopped working

To begin with, I have iChat 4.0.3 but I do not see any categories for that version.
The screen sharing feature in iChat was a really great tool that allowed me assist my family from remote locations to help them trouble shoot issues on their Macs. This feature mysteriously stopped working after the release of the 10.5.3 Mac OS X update. Prior to that, the feature worked perfectly and was able to connect each and everytime after all the proper settings were configured correctly at each end. Now, the feature does not work at all in iChat. I have confirmed and I am able to use the screen sharing features in "Back to my Mac" so I can still screen share with my desktop at home when traveling using my laptop, but I cannot screen share trying to connect using iChat. I have double checked the proper settings for sharing and those are good, I have double checked the settings in Quick Time preferences and those are set to 1.5 Mbps T1 as suggested. I have also gone back and applied the 10.5.3 combo update to both my laptop and the iMac that I am trying to connect to. The router settings have all been verified and the ports are open. The firewalls are all set and both allow connections using iChat, File Sharing, and Remote Log In. Still, after all of this, the screen sharing feature in iChat will not connect and results in a timeout error after about 15 seconds. Is this a known bug in 10.5.3 and can I expect some relief in the next update? Are there any other tricks that may be applied? This is a feature I relied on pretty heavily and now it is gone. Thanks in advance for any assistance.
I have read several posts regarding the issue of screen sharing in iChat not working properly and I have tried every solution offered in those threads and none of them have worked for me.

Upon further testing with a different iMac user I was finally able to determine that the problem is router related. I am going to go back again and double check the port settings to make sure they are configured correctly. The router that is giving the problems is a Linksys router and the router that tested fine is an Apple Airport Extreme router. I suspect the LInksys router probably needs to be tweaked further to get it to work properly.

Video/Screen Sharing via 3G connection not possible - port restrictions?

I'm running Jabber-based iChat AV 5.0.3 sessions from my MBP connected to the Internet via a wireless USB modem 3G/UMTS (German Telekom D1 network). My buddies are connected to the Internet via regular broadband connections (DSL). I have set up a hosted Jabber server via Dreamhost (without SSL, port 5222 used).
Status Quo:
- Contact status of remote Jabber users shows up properly. All buttons (text chat, screen sharing, video) are available (not greyed out) on both sides.
- Text chat works fine.
- Video chat and screen sharing can be invoked from both sides (confirmation window shows up), but after confirmation the initiation process doesn't finish successfully. The video/screen sharing session doesn't run. *iChat AV shows a message indicating that it doesn't receive an answer from the remote user device.* If the iChat session is initiated from a buddy's computer, the buddy gets the same message respectively.
- For testing purposes, I changed the internet connection on my MBP from the mobile 3G USB modem to a regular *DSL broadband connection (same ISP, German Telekom). In this scenario, video/audio calls and screen sharing work flawlessly!* Therefore, I assume that the problems in 3G connection mode is caused by the ISP (German Telekom) blocking/restricting ports required by iChat AV for initiating the video call and streaming the data on their 3G network.
Is there any way to bypass ISP restrictions, by either changing specific iChat AV port settings on both ends (client devices) or by port forwarding? If yes, which settings should I change? Unfortunately, it's couldn't find any document indicating which ports are opened/allowed by German Telekom's 2G/3G (GSM/UMTS) network.
Below is an excerpt of the error message produced by iChat AV:
iChat Connection Log:
2010-11-09 21:18:19 +0100: AVChat started with ID 494414145.
2010-11-09 21:18:19 +0100: [email protected]: State change from AVChatNoState to AVChatStateWaiting.
2010-11-09 21:18:19 +0100: 0x1a8bf8b0: State change from AVChatNoState to AVChatStateInvited.
2010-11-09 21:18:28 +0100: 0x1a8bf8b0: State change from AVChatStateInvited to AVChatStateConnecting.
2010-11-09 21:18:28 +0100: [email protected]: State change from AVChatStateWaiting to AVChatStateConnecting.
2010-11-09 21:18:48 +0100: 0x1a8bf8b0: State change from AVChatStateConnecting to AVChatStateEnded.
2010-11-09 21:18:48 +0100: 0x1a8bf8b0: Error -8 (Did not receive a response from 0x1a8bf8b0.)
2010-11-09 21:18:48 +0100: [email protected]: State change from AVChatStateConnecting to AVChatStateEnded.
2010-11-09 21:18:48 +0100: [email protected]: Error -8 (Did not receive a response from 0x1a8bf8b0.)
Video Conference Error Report:
0.000000 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/DotMacConfiguration.m:1039 type=4 (FFFFFFFF/2)
[HTTP GET failed (0)]
0.000627 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/DotMacConfiguration.m:758 type=4 (FFFFFFFF/0)
[HTTP GET failed (0)]
0.346813 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/DotMacConfiguration.m:758 type=4 (FFFFFFFF/0)
[HTTP GET failed (0)]
1331.086051 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1333.086142 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1335.086270 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1337.086603 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1339.087985 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1341.088212 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
1343.088361 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/SIP.c:2917 type=4 (900A0015/0)
[SIPConnectIPPort failed]
Video Conference Support Report:
929.446913 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2059 type=2 (00000000/0)
[Connection Data for call id: 1 returns 1
934.996640 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2074 type=2 (00000000/0)
[Prepare Connection With Remote Data - remote VCConnectionData: 1, local VCConnectionData: 1
935.002114 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2266 type=2 (00000000/0)
[Initiate Conference To User: u0 with Remote VCConnectionData: 1 with Local Connection Data: 1 conferenceSettings: 1]
935.467624 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/SIP/Transport.c:2138 type=1 (00000000/0)
[INVITE sip:user@rip:16402 SIP/2.0
Via: SIP/2.0/UDP lip:16402;branch=z9hG4bK0fdd30e326aa779b
Max-Forwards: 70
To: "u0" <sip:user@rip:16402>
From: "0" <sip:user@lip:16402>;tag=544473054
Call-ID: 9c7ecf46-ec3d-11df-8530-f81eeb5f4012@lip
CSeq: 1 INVITE
Contact: <sip:user@lip:16402>;isfocus
User-Agent: Viceroy 1.4
Content-Type: application/sdp
Content-Length: 708
Video Conference User Report:
928.427249 @:0 type=5 (00000000/16402)
[Local SIP port]
934.996832 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2171 type=5 (00000000/0)
*[Remote Router]*
*[PORT RESTRICTED]*
934.996842 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2173 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Remote CommNAT Result: 0x000000d0
936.003962 @:0 type=5 (00000000/60)
[Detected bandwidth (kbits/s): 2627 up, 2627 down. (00000000)
936.033015 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VideoConferenceMultiController.m:2423 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Start Conference With UserID: u0]
978.787787 @:0 type=5 (00000000/16402)
[Local SIP port]
1014.011790 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2171 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Remote Router]
[PORT RESTRICTED]
1014.011800 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2173 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Remote CommNAT Result: 0x000000d0
1015.024555 @:0 type=5 (00000000/60)
[Detected bandwidth (kbits/s): 2627 up, 2627 down. (00000000)
1015.031800 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VideoConferenceMultiController.m:2423 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Start Conference With UserID: u0]
1323.083386 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2171 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Remote Router]
[PORT RESTRICTED]
1323.083396 @/SourceCache/VideoConference/VideoConference-415.22/Video Conference/VCInitiateConference.m:2173 type=5 (00000000/0)
[Remote CommNAT Result: 0x000000d0
(…)

Hi,
Does this 3G device have any set up functions that are on your Mac ?
If it does not it is likely that it is wide open to all Port (65535 of them).
I presume that in System Preferences > Network you see a Public IP when using this device ?
Again this would tend to pint to all the ports being open.
Is there anything on the ISP's web site that suggests this device is unsuitable to be used with VoIP or SIP connections ?
VoIP (Voice over the Internet) uses the SIP connection process the way iChat does.
Most likely the issues is the way packets are sent.
When you do a download, for instance, do you find the speed increases in the first few minutes ?
When some data packets are sent over the Internet the next one is not sent until confirmation that the first has arrived.
This Latency effects Point to Point WiFi (antenna to Dish on House) and satellite connections mostly particularly when it is a two way thing.
It can effect Mobile/Cell phone type connections.
What sort of Speeds are you getting on the 3G device ?
http://www.speedtest.net/
Do these seem to get faster as the time proceeds ? (this can be difficult to spot).
The Log mentions one end being at just over 2Gbps although it does not make it clear which end.
As the Remote end is the end that reports "Router: Port Restricted" and it works over standard DSL we have to presume they have the ports open.
You could try restricting iChat 's Bandwidth in iChat menu > Preferences > Video Section to 500kbps (try it at both ends)
If that does not work try 200kbps
This may stop iChat from trying to send data too Fast for the Network Connections.
Realistically there are a few too many variables here.
It could be Speed of data throughout at the Initiation point. (Slow Start up of data transfer)
It could be an Internal setting preventing SIP.
It could be that the 3G network sends and receives data by different routes.
(I have seen this once when a ISP was repairing some Cabling. To maintain end user speeds they managed their own network to split Incoming and outgoing data to the end point.)
iChat does not like this as it checks the IPs and the Hops (number of intermediate stages/servers) and if the data is different it will not connect (Man in the Middle attack protection).
I can't remember the last time I knew of someone being successful with either an 3G USB dongle or a 3G phone as Modem (internet Sharing).
Despite my ideas I think you will be unlucky and this will not work.
10:31 PM Saturday; November 13, 2010
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

Screen Sharing through iChat over VPN

Does anybody know how to make screen sharing with iChat work over a VPN? It used to work for me but now it only seems to work in one direction. I was testing it earlier today and this is what I saw:
VPN client shares their screen with a machine on the physical local network - OK
VPN client requests the screen of a local machine - Fails with "did not receive data error" after a brief audio-only connection.
Local clients shares their screen with VPN clients - Fails with "dd not receive data"
Local clients requests the screen of a VPN client - Fails with "did not receive data"
The VPN is definitely the culprit, the machines can screen-share fine outside of it, and can curiously screen-share fine with the server on our local network when they are VPN'ed in, just not with each other. The server is running 10.5.4.
Anybody have any experience in making this work?

Livebox devices tend to be actually made by Sagem
See this list http://portforward.com/routers.htm
IS the model you have listed ?
It may help if the ports are opened by UPnP as Screen Sharing tends to use more random ports that basic Video/Audio chats.
10:23 PM Monday; January 21, 2008

Screen Sharing in iChat not working

iChat under Leopard seems to work fine, I got everything running including video chats and theatre but screen sharing (which works via Finder locally without problem) does not work. I cannot get to see any screen of my iChat partner while he gets a inital 'screenshot' which is not updating, nothing else.
It cannot be a firewall issue as both Macs have been moved to the firewall DMZ and Leopard Firewall is off.
Any ideas?

Hi,
Since the earlier post I have managed to Screen Share.
I did put the Mac Firewall On.
It was then as simple as using the item in the iChat Buddies menu (The option to allow sharing has to be On in the Video menu)
It replaced the Video I was having and does not go back to the Video when the Keystroke of Control+ESC is used and the Video chat has to be re-established.
I do not have Encryption.
9:04 PM Tuesday; November 13, 2007

Screen sharing in ichat 4 works on my MacBook Pro and does'nt work on imac

I am outside the US and Canada and I have a MacBook Pro and 3 imacs, 2 at my office and 1 at home. I used to use screen sharing among all of them but suddenly the imac at home does not allow sharing its screen, it only can share screens on other units, the (share my screen with...) command is faded but all other ichat features like video, speech and text are fine.
I reinstalled ichat again thinking that it could be corrupted but it is still the same.
I don't have a network or a firewall problem because when I use the same wireless network at home and login with my MacBook, the MacBook works perfectly.
I matched the settings of all units but still no progress.
I need help to restore that feature again.

If this happensd in the future go to USers/(your account)/Library/Preferences.
Delete com.apple.ichat.plist and restart iChat
If that does not work delete com.apple.ichatAgent.plists and restart iChat
It will be one or the other most likely the second.
Deleting them one at a time with a restart will pin point which one it is.
8:15 PM Sunday; December 16, 2007

No Video or Screen sharing in iChat since last update.

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro 15.4" laptop.
When I first started up, iChat worked beautifully. But after I installed the series of updates, I chat will not send or receive video, and will not allow screen sharing. It's telling me that there's no response from whoever I am trying to connect with. I've tried with three other Mac users, and no luck.
Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a fix for this?

Did you install http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/compatibilityupd ateforquicktime.html

Screen sharing via iChat

Not really a server question I know, but I wondered if anyone was experimenting with iChat screen sharing as a support tool. Most of my customers are set up for iChat using my own server and IM me with questions from time to time. I've just started installing Leopard on a few clients and wanted to try out the screen sharing. My own machine is a 17 inch Powerbook and it is looking as if there's a limit to the desktop size of the remote machine. Trying it with this particular client's machine, which is a 15 inch Macbook Pro with an attached 20 inch Cinema display, iChat screen sharing never finishes initialising. But if I reduce the resolution of the Cinema display from its default to, say, 1344x840 it works - and shows both remote screens (the Macbook display and the Cinema display).
Am I discovering that it'll only work where there are no displays connected to the remote system that have a higher resolution than the local one(s), or is there a glitch here that can be fixed? Given that it just 'hangs' I'm tempted to think it's a glitch and not some designed-in limit.

...should have mentioned - the connection is jabber of course, the server is 10.4.11 and both machines are 10.5.1 with 2Gb RAM.

Screen sharing and Pro Tools not working

Hi there. I'd really love to get some help with an issue I'm having.
I'm using ProTools 9 on my 2008 Mac Pro 2.8 Octo.
Protools runs perfect, unless I attempt to use screen sharing or any sort of VNC connection. As soon as I try to screen share with my laptop, or control the mac pro with my ipod touch using VNC, Protools can't play for more than a few seconds without an error bringing the program to a halt.
I started a thread on AVID's site that has more detail if you are interested.
http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=291040
But I've had no answers and I don't know if it's something I can tweak in my apple system to fix the fact that Protools is not interacting well with screen sharing.
any advice would be much appreciated. I'd LOVE for this to work, otherwise I need to buy a dedicated DAW controller, which doesn't make sense to me in 2011!
thanks!
Message was edited by: joeldadrummer

Hello, Joel,
Unless you're actually using Apple Remote Desktop, the specific product, I'd suggest you post in the Mac OS X Networking forum or perhaps the Using Mac OS X forum, the one applicable to your version of Mac OS X. You'll be more likely to get help there.
When you repost, be sure to include full details, especially your version of Mac OS X. I really doubt that you're running an Apple IIe and Mac OS 8.6 or earlier, and while you might think that amusing, it doesn't help people solve your problems.
Good luck, and regards.
Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

Closed connection in stalled screen sharing and now does not work

Using screen sharing I created a second admin account on the computer 2. I enabled quick account switching and tried to switch user accounts to the new admin account. I linked the new admin account to be shared with my existing admin account on computer 1. The screen never switched over to my new admin account and I couldn't quit screen sharing so I closed the connection with computer 2. Now I can't share the screen with computer 2 at all, even using my original admin account (not the newly created one). I can't reboot my computers because it will abort jobs that need to remain running.
I can still share screens between computer 1 and other computers (i.e. not computer 2) but when I try to share with computer 2, it doesn't even ask me to log in.

This issue remains unresolved, but since Apple Discussions decided to archive my question it is impossible to receive any replies.
GRR.

Permanent links for screen sharing in 10.10 not working after upgrade

In 10.9 I used the Screen Sharing folder (Users ▸ test ▸ Library ▸ Application Support ▸ Screen Sharing) with permanent links to different machines on my network to log in for screen sharing. Trying to use these links in 10.10 I get the following error:
the link I use it: Seva Server.vncloc.
Any tips as to how to fix?

Just see the picture did not upload properly here it is again

Cancelling Screen Sharing over Bonjour does not work

I have a MacBook and an iMac on the same local network. Both are running updated OS X 10.5 (Leopard).
Here's the situation:
1. Let's say I'm at my MacBook and I want to see my iMac's screen. I open screen sharing.
2. For whatever reason, I later am sitting at my iMac, and I see the screen sharing icon in the menu bar. I select it and tell it to disconnect.
3. A few seconds later, the icon returns.
The same thing happens if the computers are reversed.
Why is this?

This issue remains unresolved, but since Apple Discussions decided to archive my question it is impossible to receive any replies.
GRR.

Screen sharing from iChat with Mountain Lion

I have not upgraded yet. I want to, but I am concerned that I will no longer have the ability to screen shard with my parents out of state.
I utilize iChat to control my parents computer, they live out of state and are not too computer savvy, this has been a life saver for me. Does Mountain Lion have a feature like this or is it gone with iChat? Is there a video chat option, or am I stuck with facetime???

Hi,
Yes.
You have to use the same iChat ID as you do now. (AIM or Jabber based)
You have to (it's just easier) have the Buddy lists on View (by default they are not)
Yahoo was added for iChat 6 and is in Messages but does not do A/V chats
iMessage (the new Apple Services between Apple iOS devices and Macs with Mountain Lion) is also Text only.
You have to be able to do A/V Chats.
Speed-wise over the Internet this has to at least 128kbps (the same as a Video Chat on a 1-1 basis)
Another way to view this is that Messages is iChat with the iMessages ability shoehorned in and with a main interface change.
When you first start up Messages it tends to push you to enter an Apple ID to "register it" for the iMessage service.
If you migrate an older OS's User Account to the computer the System Preferences > Mail, Contacts and Calendars (New Preference Pane) picks up on email and other IDs which tends to mean they get added to Messages for you.
You can of course add Screen Names and IDs using the + Button in Messages menu > Preferences Accounts like you do in iChat.
This tends to mean the Messages Menu > Preferences > Accounts looks very familiar
The Window Menu can look a little different.
CMD + 0 brings up the Messages main window (A Chat Window that does tabbed Chats and an Interface all rolled into one)
Once you have other non iMessages Accounts then CMD + 1 brings up Buddies (A combined Buddy List). It is not listed until they are logged in.
They can be unlinked in the General Section of the Preferences at the "Gather all Accounts into one List" line.
Your "desktop" can then look like iChat used to:-
9:17 PM Sunday; February 10, 2013
Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"
 iMac 2.5Ghz 5i 2011 (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)
 G4/1GhzDual MDD (Leopard 10.5.8)
 MacBookPro 2Gb (Snow Leopard 10.6.8)
 Mac OS X (10.6.8),
 Couple of iPhones and an iPad
"Limit the Logs to the Bits above Binary Images."  No, Seriously

Screen Sharing in iChat / iMessage - not on PC?

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