Earlier today, I noted the success I had at getting the Google Talk client to work in the office. Now that I’m at home, there is more good news to report. GT works great with GAIM – assuming that you configure it properly. The steps for configuration are simple:
– Install GAIM (available at Sourceforge)
– Using Tools -> Accounts -> Add, add an account
– Use the following account options:
- Protocol: Set to Jabber
- Screen Name: Set to your GMail account name (everything preceding @gmail.com)
- Server: Set to gmail.com
- Password: Set to your password (let’s hope it’s a good one)
- Select “Show more options”
- Select “Use TLS if available
- De-select “Force old SSL
- De-select “Allow plain text…”
- Port: Set to 5222
- Connect server: Set to talk.google.com
That should be it. Once configured GAIM should make IM a whole lot simpler. First, you aren’t tied exclusively to Windows platforms. GAIM runs anywhere and everywhere. Clients exist for Linux as well as Mac OS X. Personally, I love GAIM. While it doesn’t give me complete interoperability between conversations on different platforms, I can still be logged onto all IM platforms simultaneously. And when Google gets the interoperability agreements going, then the fun should really start.
-CyclingRoo-