Via Mashable (“Gmail Chat Adds Groups and Smileys“):
“Group chat has finally found its way to gmail’s instant messaging system. So right there while you have your email inbox open, you can chat with multiple people at one time. Start a group chat by clicking on the Options link at the bottom of a conversation window. You’ll now see “Group Chat” as a new option. Once that’s selected, just type in the name of the person you’d like to add to your current conversation. If you don’t see the group chat option yet, try signing out and logging back into your Gmail account.”
I’m particularly interested in using the group chat function that was launched at the tail end of last month, but unfortunately I don’t have enough contacts who use Google Talk to necessitate a group chat. Nonetheless it is – or at least was – one of my preferred IM clients.
I find both MSN and Yahoo! messenger to be so plagued by ads and blinking lights that it’s just too much to deal with. So I’ve stopped using MSN as of a year or so ago, and Yahoo! messenger several years before that. I’m fond of Google Talk’s stripped down minimalistic sensibilities, and very straightforward interface.
In the same breath though I have to say I’m irritated by the fact the web-based version of Google Talk is being given far more preferential treatment over the version you install locally. Google Talk has been fairly low on the radar for quite some time now – perhaps due to the relatively minimal uptake by users as compared to other Google products – and yet we still continue to see more innovation and feature releases with the web client.
It begs the question: Why not add the same new features to both?
