Google Talk Instant Messenger : Chat & IM Your Friends

The latest launch by Google is the Google Talk Instant Messenger. It plans to give competition to other popular Instant Messengers like Yahoo Messenger, ICQ etc..

Google Talk is a downloadable Windows application that enables users to quickly and easily talk or send instant messages to their friends for free. Calls are made through your computer using the latest voice technology; all you need is an Internet connection, a microphone and a speaker.

To use Google Talk, you must sign in with your Gmail username and password. Your Gmail contacts are pre-loaded into Google Talk, so you can email, IM or talk to your friends with just a few clicks.

Gmail users can access the Google Talk service and exchange instant messages using other clients that support the standard XMPP protocol, such as Trillian, GAIM, iChat, Adium, and Psi. This allows users to access the Google Talk service for instant messaging from all major platforms, including OSX, Linux, and Windows.

Remember you need Windows 2000, Windows XP (Home & Pro), or Windows Server 2003. You’ll also need a minimum 56k dial up connection. The downloadable Google Talk client is not compatible with Macintosh or Linux systems at this time.

Gmail accounts are available by invitation. As regards my favourite IM – I use Trillian which is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC … and now I am experimenting with Google Talk!