Q&A: Can You Use iChat Without a .Mac Account?

From the mailbag:

Q: Is it possible to use iChat without having a .Mac account?

Gabriel B. - Argentina, via email.

A: It's quite easy to use iChat AV without a .Mac account. You simply need to have an AOL AIM screen name or Jabber ID. To get a free AOL AIM screen name, you just to quickly select a username & password.

Sign up here.

Once you have the AIM account, you can add it to iChat by opening iChat, go to iChat -> Preferences -> Accounts, and then add your account.