Google has like many before it such as AOL, Yahoo and Skype created it’s own online chat program, which you can run with a windows program and which is very neatly integrated into Gmail.com. However I don’t use windows, I use Linux and by using the Jabber protocol Google Talk is designed to be compatible with other talk clients.

I just could not get the sucker to operate within Gaim successfully. Seems I was missing an advanced setting as found at http://www.google.com/support/talk/bin/answer.py?answer=24073 Now I have a successful login, I just need some other friends to join Google Talk