Well, the wait is over. Google Talk is live. You can get the Google Talk client at http://www.google.com/talk. Actually, it went live last night. It was fun watching Technorati go nuts with all the posts! As we speak, I am sure that it is a top ten item.
So how does it work? Well, it installs easily. It configured simply. It automatically worked through the firewall at work. That’s a nice trick. It means the client is using the proxy settings from the system settings. You can change these settings. But it is a nice trick for it to work “out of the box.”
The IM experience is nothing to write home about. It is clean and simple. But so is Gaim (or any other IM client these days). The default client doesn’t appear to support IM to other networks (AOL/ICQ, Yahoo!, or MSN). But you can connect to Google using other clients – like Gaim. That means that I can use the client of my own choice. That is intensely sweet! W00t!
I haven’t tried the VOIP interface yet. I don’t have a good mic/headset. But I guess I now need to get one. We use VOIP for our home phone service (through Time Warner). But if rumors are right, this may be an interesting new venture for Google. Rumor has it that Google may be eyeing our friends at Skpe. Now that would be something indeed.
-CyclingRoo-