I was reading a very interesting post today about Google Talk and a previously unknown (at least to me) feature that allows you to set up group chats with multiple users. This has got me thinking about Google Talk in general.

I really like the Google Talk application but I only have three contacts on it. Not due to having no friends (!) but simply because I only know three people that use Google Talk for their instant messaging purposes. I think part of the problem is that Google does not really make much of an effort to publicise its chat program. I mean, it's there and it's freely available but Google's sparse main page ensures that there is no banner advertising urging people to use Google Talk. You can use it on Google Docs to collaborate on projects but do you see Google screaming from the rooftops about it?

Whereas in contrast, MSN and Yahoo both openly advertise their chat programs on their main pages and they have a much bigger user-base. They spend more time and energy promoting and pushing their chat programs and as a result, they have got further ahead in the instant messaging market.

I think it was a master-stroke by Google to integrate Google Talk into Gmail and to have Google Talk conversations stored in Gmail accounts as searchable messages. Notice how fast Yah00 copied this feature for Yahoo mail owners. But I prefer to use the standalone Talk application which has a nifty file-transfer capability, new mail notification (for Gmail accounts) and thumbnail photos of Gmail users who are on your contact list (assuming they have put a photo of themselves on their Gmail accounts). I also like the simple and sparse design (a famous Google trademark). Hell, they don't even have emoticons!

One thing has really irritated me though - I tried putting Google Talk onto Pidgin and it worked OK. But the problem was that everytime I emailed someone, their name would instantly appear on my Google Talk contact list (even if it was a newsletter that I had emailed to subscribe to)! So in the end, I had to uninstall GT from Pidgin and run GT separately. If you run the standalone GT program, you can choose to hide people who are not approved to be on your contact list. But if you attach GT to a Jabber chat client, then you will get everyone that you ever email popping up on your contact list. Rather annoying.

I have always been split on how I feel exactly about instant messaging. On one hand, I like it because it instantly connects you to people such as friends, family and business clients and decisions can made instantly. On the other hand, I sometimes hate having my privacy invaded by pop-up chat messages from total strangers asking me for "a/s/l" (if you're a chatter, you will know what that means). I also don't like my valuable time taken up with mindless small talk (unless it is a good friend who is chatting to me).

Despite my continual hesitation to fully embrace instant messaging, I still maintain chat accounts on all the major chat networks (AOL Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and Google Talk). At the very least, it makes good business sense to have this avenue of communication available to any potential overseas clients who may be reluctant to telephone Europe from say the US. Since chat accounts are totally free of charge (at least for now) then it's a win-win situation. I can keep the account active and if I use it then great. If not, what have I lost? Zilch.

But then the problem arises that if you have too many chat programs open, your computer CPU goes through the roof. Too many chat programs running also makes it difficult to sort all of your contacts and keep chats organised. So for many years, I uninstalled all of the individual chat programs and instead used Trillian which enabled me to open all of the chat programs under a single interface. But I was never really happy with Trillian - to me, it was (and still is) a very basic "no frills" program and I often had connection problems with it. I also couldn't attach Google Talk to it.

Then I discovered Pidgin which used to be known as Gaim (until AOL objected). It allows you to attach Google Talk and I think the interface is smoother and more aesthetically pleasing. Connections to the various chat networks are also never a problem. There's even a portable version for my USB stick and lots of neat plug-ins to make your Pidgin client even better. The various individual programs are uninstalled (saving both hard-drive space and CPU usage) and everything is organised in one central contact list. Perfect.