Chatting via Gmail with Gmail Chat
One of the most unique features of Google Talk is that you don't need the Google Talk client to instant message other users. You can, if you choose, do all your chatting from within Gmail, using your normal web browser.
Initiating a Chat
There are a few different ways to start a chat from within Gmail. You can
- Click the person's name in your Quick Contacts list.
- Hover over the person's name in your Quick Contacts list to display detailed information, and then click the Chat button.
- Click the Contacts link to display your Contacts list; you can then hover over the person's name and click the Chat button.
Once you've done one of these actions, a message window appears in the lower-right corner of your web browser, as shown in Figure 22.6. If you prefer to view the chat in a separate window, like the one in Figure 22.7, click Pop-out. In either case, you enter your messages in the bottom text box, and then press Enter; the full chat is shown in the space above.
And, of course, you can go off the record or block a user the same way you do with the Google Talk client, just by clicking the Options menu.
Changing Your StatusAnd Ending Your Chat Session
When it's time to end a chat session, you can sign out of Google Talk by pulling down the Set Status Here menu in the Contacts section of the Gmail inbox page. Here are your options:
Select Sign Out of Chat to sign out, or just click Busy if you're only going to be temporarily unavailable.
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To quote the movie Soylent Green, the problem with Google Talk is people. There simply aren't enough of them.
You see, Google is a latecomer to the instant messaging game, and really doesn't offer anything new or unique for users. In fact, Google Talk doesn't have quite as many features as AIM or MSN Messenger; you can't send files via Google Talk, for instance, which you can with the other systems. In other words, there is no compelling new technology- or feature-related reason to switch from another IM system to Google Talk.
That is readily apparent when you consider how few people are using Google Talk. No hard numbers are available, but you can easily see for yourself; how many of your friends are online with Google Talk, versus those who are currently using AIM, MSN Messenger, or Yahoo! Messenger? Instant messaging, at the end of the day, is all about your friends. You have to have someone to talk to; if none of your friends are using Google Talk, you're talking to yourself.
Until Google Talk attracts more users, however, it remains one of Google's little-known and lesser-used features. That might change, however, when Google connects with AOL's instant messaging network, which Google says is in the works. (It's part of Google's strategic alliance withand $1 billion investment inAmerica Online.) Look for Google Talk/AIM interoperability within the next year or so.
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