A little about doing things in iChat 2
So you have gained a Screen name from .mac or AIM (both can be free if you use a Trial account form .mac) and run through the Start Up Screens and added the info and have iChat Open.
Now you want to add Buddies.
There are not as many satges are there are Pictures. You have options as to where to start to Add a Buddy.
The First is the Plus sign at the Bottom of the Buddy List.
The next is the option in the Buddies Menu. This pic has it greyed out but this is because the Buddy List is not highlighted. You can also use this Option to add Buddies from Chat window if they contact you and you Accept (sort of on th Fly).
You can also add them by adding the AIM or .mac info to their Address Book entry if they are already there.
Either of the fisrt two options will take you to Pictrue 3. This is where you can choose to add the iChat Screen Name to an Address Book entry you already have or add a New Buddy.
The New Buddy option takes you to the Next screen (Picture 4 or 5) This has a drop down for selecting the Account Type
This has to be the correct one. You do not have to enter the Suffix that cames with @mac names as the software does it for you.
The last picture shows the Info added as an AIM account and the Info that will be addded to the Address Book.
This is optional. If you choose not to add it the Buddy will be added and displayed as the Screen Name only.
The Link to getting an AIM name above does show that you can get the name to display other than just as the Screen name.
Problems
There can be problems with adding names. These come with "Feedbag Error" codes in iChat 2.
To quote the Original Pages
"Could not add 'screenname' to your buddy list. (Feedbag error 10) or (... 17)"
Feedbag Error 17 is a message from AIM that your Buddy List is full.
Make sure that your Buddies do not appear in more than one group as they get counted twice (or more) this way. The limit is 200
Feedbag Error 10 is connected to your Buddies details already being in the Buddy list or the Address Book and you trying to add the same person under a different screen name.
Either delete the previous entry or....
add the second screen name after the first one with a comma in between in the Address Book (ralphjohnr,rlph820) in either the AIM or @Mac entry points or add a axtra AIM field to the Address Book card to hold the second name.
Alternatively the names can be added in this way to the Buddy Info Accounts name when you use the Apple Key (Command ⌘) and "i" together when a Buddy is highlighted in the Buddy list.
In iChat 3 there is some evidence that this is related to how your Groups are set up. I had this from another Level 4 at Apple Discussions:
About iChat
iChat is an Instant Message and Video and Audio only chat application.
It uses the AIM Service as the Text message part but from version 3 onwards can also join Jabber servers including GoogleTalk.
It can send Files and Pics to other iChat Users and in certian circumstances the Pics are displayed in the Chat window.
In later versions it can have add-ons that enhance video features that have then been somewhat included by Apple in Version 4
