ChitChat
Encyclopedia
ChitChat was an open source
instant messaging
client
for Mac OS X
supporting the Yahoo! Messenger
protocol. It enabled users to chat with each other over the global Yahoo! chat system. The last version, ChitChat 1.2, had a more refined user interface, speed improvements, Address Book support, IM reformatting, an improved events system, and numerous bug fixes. ChitChat was programmed in the REALBasic
programming environment.
The new program, dubbed "ChitChat", went through several major interface overhauls throughout its existence, seemingly in perpetual beta or pre-release, though it was available publicly. Finally, "ChitChat 1.0" was released in early 2004 with versions for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows 98.
Over the years ChitChat had picked up a rather large feature set. In an effort to deflect feature creep without crippling the program, "ChitChat Lite" was introduced in late 2005. The Lite version, a simplified no-frills release, never picked up as large a user base as its predecessor.
"...I would like to thank everyone for all the support over the years. It was fun, and I learned a lot..." ~ Tomis Erwin, ChitChat Homepage
During the years that ChitChat was in active development, a new trend in chat clients emerged; that of the multi-client. Multi-Clients connect to more than one service at once, this reduces the number of programs a user must simultaneously run on their computer. The only multi-client that can connect to Yahoo! Chat (as opposed to regular Instant Messaging) as of this writing is Adium
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
for Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
supporting the Yahoo! Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger is an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!...
protocol. It enabled users to chat with each other over the global Yahoo! chat system. The last version, ChitChat 1.2, had a more refined user interface, speed improvements, Address Book support, IM reformatting, an improved events system, and numerous bug fixes. ChitChat was programmed in the REALBasic
REALbasic
Realbasic is the object-oriented dialect of the BASIC programming language used in Real Studio, a programming environment, developed and commercially marketed by Real Software, Inc of Austin, Texas for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, 32-bit x86 Linux and the web.- Language features :RB is a strongly...
programming environment.
History
ChitChat was an offshoot of "miChat!", a Yahoo! Chat program for Macintosh computers written by J. Seth Lowe in the REALbasic programming language. In late 2000, Seth publicly asked for other REALbasic programmers to join the project, in the hope that it would spawn a number of competing Yahoo! Chat clients and enrich the Macintosh experience. A programmer by the name of Tomis Erwin responded to this query. After collaborating on several features, Seth encouraged him to take free rein in creating his own client from the miChat code base.The new program, dubbed "ChitChat", went through several major interface overhauls throughout its existence, seemingly in perpetual beta or pre-release, though it was available publicly. Finally, "ChitChat 1.0" was released in early 2004 with versions for Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, and Windows 98.
Over the years ChitChat had picked up a rather large feature set. In an effort to deflect feature creep without crippling the program, "ChitChat Lite" was introduced in late 2005. The Lite version, a simplified no-frills release, never picked up as large a user base as its predecessor.
End of the Line
In April 2006, Yahoo! disconnected their "Java Chat" (known internally as YCHT protocol) in favor of the newer Yahoo! Messenger protocol (known as YMSG). ChitChat was designed on this older protocol and would need to be rewritten to support the new system. Citing the amount of time and effort a re-write would entail, Tomis announced that ChitChat was effectively terminated."...I would like to thank everyone for all the support over the years. It was fun, and I learned a lot..." ~ Tomis Erwin, ChitChat Homepage
During the years that ChitChat was in active development, a new trend in chat clients emerged; that of the multi-client. Multi-Clients connect to more than one service at once, this reduces the number of programs a user must simultaneously run on their computer. The only multi-client that can connect to Yahoo! Chat (as opposed to regular Instant Messaging) as of this writing is Adium
Adium
Adium is a free and open source instant messaging client for Mac OS X that supports multiple IM networks, including Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, and XMPP. It supports many protocols through the libraries libezv , MGTwitterEngine , and libpurple...