How Can Apple User Make Video Calls With Facetime On A PC With Windows OS

Apple is famed for being relatively restrictive when it comes to allowing services that are unique to its smartphone devices to be accessed on third-party products, but if you want to make a FaceTime video call from an iPhone, iPad or Mac, is it possible to contact a user who has a Windows-based PC?

Compatibility

Apple is understandably protective of unique programs such as FaceTime because these add value to its brand, thereby increasing user loyalty. If you can only access FaceTime on an Apple gadget then it makes sense to purchase an iPhone for yourself and other iOS-based items for the rest of your family.
Of course, in reality it may not be practical to do this and many of your contacts might not have an Apple device whatsoever. The main issue here is that Apple will not officially support FaceTime on the Windows platform, as at the moment there is no downloadable application to make this possible.

One workaround for this if you have a Windows PC is to harness one of the programs which allow you to load Mac OS X on computers which were not produced by Apple.

This is going to be a more time-consuming and technically complicated task than you might imagine, but if you simply have to have FaceTime support in as native a form as possible then it might be sensible to find an emulator which integrates OS X support into Windows.

Alternatives

Of course, it is worth addressing the fact that FaceTime is not the only solution if you want to make video calls over the internet between an Apple device and a Windows PC.

While Apple may have the monopoly on FaceTime as a specific service, it is far from being the only one of its kind that can achieve web-based chats. Skype is perhaps the most popular and well known service of this kind, allowing you to make voice and now video calls from iOS and Mac OS X-based devices made by Apple.

Skype is also fully compatible with Windows and is in fact owned by Microsoft following a recent acquisition, so you can expect this particular service to be integrated more comprehensively with upcoming products like Windows 8 and Windows Phone Apollo.

If you are looking for SIM only contract there`s a range to choose from here and because Skype can operate over both Wi-Fi and 3G from your iPhone you will want to get a decent yet affordable data allowance to support video calling.

A popular alternative to Skype that is available on the iPhone is the Tango Video Calls application. Like Skype it can be used over Wi-Fi and 3G and it will search your contact list to find friends and acquaintances who also have it installed.

There are many other similar services, each of which has its positive and negative aspects. Fring and Yahoo! Messenger are just two examples, with the former being particularly worthy of note since it allows you to chat via video with people who are using different platforms, thus circumventing the problems of compatibility. Sadly FaceTime is not included in this list and so Windows users remain isolated in this respect.

Monopoly

It is perhaps worth pointing out at this stage that the popularity of the iPhone, iPad and Mac ranges means you will probably not be short of contacts who are willing to use FaceTime to chat. Furthermore, Apple products are likely to become more popular as technology develops.

On the other hand, if you are an avid Windows user then you will have to look to these third-party services in order to contact those on an Apple platform, as for the time being it is impossible to find native FaceTime support. Only Apple will be able to make this happen and so far it has been reluctant to share the love.

About the Author:

Roxanne P. is a writer who regularly turns her hand to technology, looking at both hardware components, whole systems and the software which keeps it all together. If you are looking for SIM only contract there`s a range to choose from here and also other pieces by Roxanne to keep you up to date with the latest issues and advice.