I have been using iChat for about a month. Although it’s a great program and has the ability to be used with most of the major chat interfaces I got frustrated with the lack of built in customizable features very quickly. I never took the time to download a new client or find a way to add features to iChat itself, but the other day I was reading a forum that mentioned Chax.
Chax is a freeware application that puts iChat on steriods without the added rage. The install is simple and clean adding a new tab in the preferences window of iChat entitled “Chax.”
The added features are very similar to ones found in more robust chat clients like Trillian for windows or Audium for OS X. Some of the features I like are (the full list can be found here):
- Tabbed windows
- Growl notifications
- Auto accept file transfers
- Auto accept text invitations
- Auto away message
Simply put, Chax adds features that iChat should have built in and is a must have for anyone who uses iChat as your main chat client.