Kasper JadeExclusive - After a mere one year stint, Apple is calling it quits when it comes to supporting its audio and visual instant messaging software on older versions of the Mac OS X operating system.
In a note to company employees, Apple's marketing division announced an end to the electronic sale and distribution of the software, stating that the Jaguar-based application is now EOL (end-of-life).
Subsequent checks of product availability confirm the removal of iChat AV from the company's online store. Likewise, a posting on the iChat product page, which once advertised the software to Jaguar users for a small fee, has also disappeared.
Apple introduced iChat AV along with its Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" operating system in June of 2003, but also made the software available to users of Mac OS X v10.2.5 "Jaguar" or later as a standalone upgrade for $29.95.
The precise reasoning behind the discontinuation of the software for Jaguar users is unknown, but the company is hard at work on a new version of iChat AV that will deliver improved video quality, three-way video chat, extended audio conferencing, and Jabber support. This update is due in early 2005 as part of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger."
Christine McKee
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
5 Comments
nice scoop, kasper! and news on saturday too! lets see how long it takes for sites like mac minnute to hijack this story.
GuyKawasakiNinga
great, now we get to hear tons of complaints from people who havent upgraded to panther yet (and don't know what they're missing).
nice scoop, kasper! and news on saturday too! lets see how long it takes for sites like mac minnute to hijack this story.
GuyKawasakiNinga
Well i hate to fuel your trolling, but you were absolutely correct! MacRumors totally ripped off this story as their own.
Now if only you can predict product announcements like this
GT
It seems important to note that while they have discontinued the product, that does not mean they have discontinued support.
There will not be new versions, but the tech support and security updates should continue for a while yet. Canceling support the same time you cancel a product is highly unusual.
Just thought I would point this out, as the title of the thread is misleading.
This is a disturbing trend. Safari, now iChat, etc. Sounds like some other company we all hate, from Redmond, Wash.