Since you suggested Apple, I will assume you are an Apple person and ask this question,
I've been asked to see if my univ can set up a video link for me w/another school, using a "macintosh computer with an iSight camera". I know we have set ups for videoconferencing w/PCs and am checking on the mac availability.
My question is, is videoconferencing dependant on a shared operating system? It doesn't make much sense to create a system to communicate with others and then require that they be Apple people; why not make it a cross platform application?
Any thoughts on this? Maybe the person sending me the email thinks you need a mac to do this.
iChat AV videoconferencing on Macs is compatible with AOL Instant Messenger videoconferencing on PCs. They speak each other's language.
Update - Skype released a new version for Mac today that supports videoconferencing. I just tested a video chat with a PC user and it works.
iChat is still the preferred application for Mac-to-Mac video chat, but the new Skype looks better than AOL Instant Messenger for Mac-to-PC video chat, especially on the PC side.