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iChat can serve as a client for AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), MobileMe, ICQ and XMPP. It uses a XMPP-like protocol and Bonjour for user discovery and it also allows for LAN communication. iChat's AIM support is fully endorsed by AOL, and uses their official implementation of the AIM OSCAR protocol. Using a XMPP transport, iChat users may also integrate their MSN, Yahoo! and Google Talk contacts into the XMPP pane. iChat bears Apple's Aqua interface and uses speech bubbles and pictures to personify the online chatting experience. With iChat, green (available), yellow (idle), and red (away) dots can be seen next to the name of each connected user on the buddy list. For color-blind users, this can be altered to show different shapes to illustrate status rather than color. |