Webcamming on a Mac to a Windows based computer.

[Valkyira]

My girlfriend recently went on holiday to Australia, and she's going to be there for around a month. To keep in touch, she decided to take her laptop with her. Yesterday we tried to webcam (lets keep this mature people), but we couldn't find a way to do it as I have an iMac.

I know there are some tech-savy people here on the Escapist, and I need your help. Does anyone know how a mac and connect via webcam to a windows based PC? I know the most common answer would be for me to use Bootcamp so I can use Windows as well, and I have done that before, but the quality is awful and there's a huge hassle having to switch between Windows and normal operating system on the Mac.

So are there any other ways?

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys.

[EDIT] I should also mention, I don't like using Bootcamp because I don't have an Anti-Virus and I keep getting kicked off.

 

[DazZ.]

What software do you use to communicate via the web?

I'm sure it's not hard to find one that's both mac/windows compatible, then you just both install and use that. You won't need to use bootcamp just to communicate a mac to a PC.

Edit: MSN seems to have a Mac version, download that on hers, you download normal MSN and then the software is easy to use with IMs/video/audio.

 

[Valkyira]

What software do you use to communicate via the web?

I'm sure it's not hard to find one that's both mac/windows compatible, then you just both install and use that. You won't need to use bootcamp just to communicate a mac to a PC.

To talk to people on Microsoft Messenger for Mac, but it doesn't have sound/video features which is a pain in the arse. I also tried; Mercury Messenger and AMSN that random people suggested, but so far nothings worked.

 

[Tenky]

Simple: Get skype... it's free... it's got the best quality when it comes to webcam communication... and it's available on Windows, Mac, Linux, portable devices etc... without any restrictions!

Enjoy!

 

[DazZ.]

To talk to people on Microsoft Messenger for Mac, but it doesn't have sound/video features which is a pain in the arse.

Mac messenger doesn't have webcam/audio? I'm sure the latest version will, it's had that function for years and is pretty standard for IM clients.

Edit: Skype is a good plan, just go with that.

 

[Valkyira]

Simple: Get skype... it's free... it's got the best quality when it comes to webcam communication... and it's available on Windows, Mac, Linux, portable devices etc... without any restrictions!

Enjoy!

To talk to people on Microsoft Messenger for Mac, but it doesn't have sound/video features which is a pain in the arse.

Mac messenger doesn't have webcam/audio? I'm sure the latest version will, it's had that function for years and is pretty standard for IM clients.

Edit: Skype is a good plan, just go with that.

Thanks for the tips guys. So Skype's free? I thought you had to pay for it.

 

[dmase]

Me and my GF talk on Skype all the time, there have been some issues with her mac not registering the webcam properly. I think that is another webcam application that is interfering with that tho.

If i remember correctly the setup wasn't bad for either of us and it worked immediately after.

 

[DazZ.]

Thanks for the tips guys. So Skype's free? I thought you had to pay for it.

No problem, should have just said Skype first.

Yeah it is free, unless you're making calls to a phone. Computer to computer is free.

 

[Avaholic03]

Skype over the web is free. If you want to be able to call normal phone numbers with Skype, that's when you have to pay.