Google Talk
Yesterday, I downloaded and installed the beta version of Google Talk, Google’s much-rumored and anticipated IM client. My first impression: it’s pretty damn stripped-down. The interface is nice and clean, but the feature set is pretty small: no interoperability with other chat protocols, no ability to change the event notifications, no skins. On the other hand, it’s built on the open IM protocol Jabber, rather than its own proprietary protocol ala AIM, YahooIM, and MSN Messenger.