Very disappointing IChat - bait and switch

[jdwall]

I have installed Leopard and went right to iChat. It turns out that some of the much anticipated features not only announced, but highlighted and Demo'd by Jobs at the Leopard preview are absent. (both the "Conan O'Brian talking lips effect" and the "star wars hologram" effect). Any chance for a "catch up" release if they weren't ready for prime time? No mention, no apology anywhere.

I am also very upset about the bait and swtch tactic with the new features. There was no mention in the preview info about many of the features ONLY working on Intel chip Macs. My G5 desktop Mac Pro cannot do many of the new things. I am still annoyed about buying an expensive and very rapidly obsolete computer 2 months before the Intel crossover announcement. I think this behavior was calculated, and I am very angry about this. Tough words from a mac user since 1983, even through the bad System 7 days.

Shame on you Apple!

[eric2006]

I believe that they ran into copyright issues with the iChat effects. What doesn't work on a G5?

[gregster]

Originally Posted by eric2006

I believe that they ran into copyright issues with the iChat effects. What doesn't work on a G5?

Basically, pages 3 & 4 of the effects in Photobooth/iChat are not available on a PPC Mac. Only there on Intel. Not sure this is going to drive anyone to upgrade, but it is slightly annoying

[mdnky]

Originally Posted by jdwall

I am also very upset about the bait and swtch tactic with the new features. There was no mention in the preview info about many of the features ONLY working on Intel chip Macs.

Actually I remember hearing quite a bit during pre-release time about Intel-only features in Leopard (particularly these filters), not to mention it was mentioned during a keynote. They also posted it in the MacOSX specs section (under iChat Requirements and under the Photobooth header), as well as with a full details link under iChat requirements. Sounds like you should have researched your purchase a little more IMO.

As far as the bait and switch thing...that doesn't qualify as it's clearly stated it won't work on non-intel based Macs. Nor would it qualify for the missing features. Any time they do a keynote or special presentation, you'll see (maybe hear) a disclaimer that basically says "subject to change". They never said publicly that the star wars effect would be there in the final release. Who knows, it still may come with an update later on.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/

• Photo Booth and backdrop effects require an Intel Core Duo or faster processor.

Photo Booth requires an iSight camera (built-in or external), USB video class (UVC) camera, or FireWire DV camcorder; and an Intel or PowerPC G5 processor. Backdrop effects require an Intel Core Duo or faster processor. Backdrop effects when using a DV camcorder require fixed focus, exposure, and white balance.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306687

Minimum requirements for Photobooth Effects

• Intel Core Duo processor or faster.
• At least 128 Kbps upstream and downstream bandwidth.

Minimum requirements for Backdrop Effects

• Intel Core Duo processor or faster.
• iSight camera, external USB Video Class (UVC) camera, or Firewire DV camcorder with fixed focus, exposure and white balance.
• At least 128 Kbps upstream and downstream bandwidth.