I started the day attempting to use iChat AV to have a video chat with my in-laws (where my daughter and wife are staying this week). After tearing my hair out trying to get it to work (something that seems to be affecting a lot of iChat users, especially after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.8) I ended up using Skype. Before that, I twiddled NAT/Firewall settings (enable UPnP? trigger ports? oh my), had my in-laws install AIM Triton (which, had I read this first, I wouldn’t have wasted time with) and “classic” AIM 5.9 (less suckiness, but still didn’t work), before nearly conceding defeat altogether.

Good thing I didn’t give up. Skype on both ends (2.0 on Mac, 2.5 on Windows) did the trick. It just worked. My in-laws had it up and running quickly with very little input from me. I got to see them and my family. Video and audio was a bit touch and go quality-wise (probably <10 fps, but then, we’re both on 1.5Mbps/384Kbps DSL), but at least I wasn’t getting “Chat ended with error -8” messages anymore. Plus, you have to love any application whose developers have a sense of humor.

Obligatory Linux note: Skype is lagging a bit behind on Linux (it’s still at 1.3, no video support yet). Whenever the video enabled version comes out, I’ll definately give it a whirl (especially if it’s available via conary update).