Google IM Service Launched – Google Talk

Google’s long-rumoured IM service is now available for download and is aptly called Google Talk.I haven’t been able to really use the service as I don’t have any gmail contacts but my first impressions of the service are:

1. The interface is super-simple and clean which I like
2. Google Talk is built on Jabber/XMPP which I think this is the right decision. To learn more about Jabber click here.

It’s good to see a company with Google’s influence supporting an emerging open standard, rather than creating its own closed network like the big 4 IM clients.

The launch of Google talk I think will be an interesting test of the power of Google’s brand, as unfortunately Google Talk doesn’t include any interoperability with MSN, AIM, Yahoo! messenger or ICQ. For the service to be successful, users are going to have to migrate away from their current IM service, and so will their buddies. IM is the second most stickiest service after email so getting users to migrate won’t be easy.

I guess Google are hoping that adding Google Talk to its portfolio, in addition to gmail, will convince more users to move from AOL, MSN and Yahoo!

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