Messages Beta Download for OS X Released by Apple

14 years ago

Apple has just released a beta version of Messages for Mac, promising a taste of what’s to come from OS X Mountain Lion.

Messages replaces iChat and brings all of the functionality you get with iMessage on your iOS device, right onto your Mac, and as with iMessage, the feature list is a follows:

Send unlimited iMessages to any Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
Start an iMessage conversation on your Mac and continue it on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
Send photos, videos, attachments, contacts, locations, and more.
Launch a FaceTime video call and bring the conversation face-to-face.

Interestingly, as well as iMessage support, Apple has also included support for AIM, Yahoo!, Google Talk and Jabber chat accounts. This makes Messages a real contender to replace your current chat platform of choice. We first saw a concept of ‘iMessage for Mac’ in a video done by Jan-Michael Cart, who now works for Apple as an intern. iMessage has long been rumoured as a much anticipated feature for OS X.

The beta download is available here, and will require OS X version 10.7.3 or later.

Want to see more of our stories on Google?

P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!