Google Talk/Chat Review
Wow, two posts about Google in one day – and before you ask, no my new job doesn’t involve me working for them!
I lied when I said I had no-one to talk to earlier this week, I sent 
an invite to Gmail (after about 30 minutes of searching for the “Invite” box – GreaseMonkey for FireFox users take note, Adding the Google Calendar and Bloglines Scripts removes the invite box!). I really like the interface of GMail, especially the conversation threading functionality (which is very useful with the number of News Groups I subscibe to), and I can’t wait for all the services (such as Calendar and Notebook) to become more fully integrated.
Anyway, Google Talk or Chat (depending on what you read) is pretty nifty. Of course it doesn’t (yet) have the functionality of MSN Messagenger or AIM for example but as a quick little communication tool it’s excellent.
As with other Instant Messenger you are invited to talk and a small window pops up on the screen:
The chat pop-up (which works in a very Web 2.0 Layer) allows limited smileys and by the looks of it no control over the font. I didn’t get a chance to try and break it by throwing a load of HTML in there – maybe next time!
You can also “Pop Out” the chat window so it’s in its own separate browser which is quite handy:
However, when you close GMail down, it would appear that the chat ends which is a pity.
Still, all in all a good tool, although an extra distraction in the work-place!
- Follow Katy Whitton on:
“Hmm, surely the chat would stop if you close GMail? Or are you expecting it to continue in some kind of disembodied ghostly form? ;-)PS, Second attempt at posting this, I didn’t get the “”posting comment”” image.”
“I was sort of hoping that when you “”Popped Out”” the chat window and then closed GMail, the chat would keep going. I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t as it’s in a separate window.”