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.
Can no one produce a decent instant messaging client? I’ve been a big fan of Trillian for the last 5 years or so, but have been vaguely dissatisfied with it since the release of version 3.0. Chief among my problems:
It keeps screwing up my contact list. I have my contact list divided up into groups for friend, people in my office, and contacts at the corporate mothership, but people keep showing up in the wrong group, no matter how many times I move them to the correct one.