Why Gmail Gtalk is my Favorite IM Client
Posted by knorby on April 1, 2010 under IM, google, internet, javascript | 
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A friend of mine was complaining about Empathy today, an IM client I have never much cared for. I have serious problems with gaim/pidgin too, and really, most of the reasons are the same. Of all IM clients I have used, I have been most satisfied with gmail; here’s why.
Great Chat History
Essentially any IM client at this point has chat history, but I really started using it once I started using gtalk. Why? I can search it easily, and it isn’t local to the machine I use it on; same main reasons I like gmail. It does mean that the FBI could get my chat records, but I am not too worried about that.
Reasonable Multi-client Handling
Part of using a standard chat client is having it start up after login, which usually leads to multiple logins if you use several computers, or leave one on and logged in. Pidgin or something will usually have a login per instance of the client, which really doesn’t lead to the desired behavior anywhere. With XMPP, you usually get a message everywhere on the first message, after which messages are only sent to the chosen client. Gtalk seems to only use one login, and handle a multi-client situation somewhere between broadcast and interface restriction. The instance of gmail with the most recent activity is notified with the alert, and the chat window appears in full, with the red alert color. On other clients, the window appears minimized and alerted, or not at all depending on several factors related to recent activity and what was already open. It works well. Android has its own model, but that is a different situation. It works really well. As an added bonus to this approach, status messages propagate well between clients, including to android.
Nice Balance Between Notification and Quietness
Most clients seem to work in one of two modes. Yell and scream activity, or say nothing. Aside from the ding, I think gmail is closer to the silent. If you are in gmail, you know when you get a message, and if you are in your browser, you probably notice the tab, but otherwise, it is ignorable. Most clients default to playing a loud sound a lot, and bringing up the window, in addition to more silent types of alert. If I am trying to do work, this is really, really annoying. You can usually reconfigure the client to be a little more silent, but it never works just right. I check gmail a lot anyway, so it ends up working pretty well.
Reasonable Away Message Handling
Since most people check gmail frequently, especially when not focused on something else, the away timeout tends to work pretty well. Watching a co-worker of mine, the timeout is usually accurate to about 5-10 minutes. The behavior on other clients seems to be either nothing or constant switching; plus you can get annoying status change messages!
No Setup
I don’t have to install or configure anything. I just use gmail. This is one of the more obvious reasons, but it comes in handy a lot. I just need gmail open, which I usually do.
I assume I am not really documenting anything new or interesting here for most people. My point is more that gmail or the likes of meebo are in many ways preferable to a more traditional app. Really, there is no reason a web app should be more usable than a traditional gui, but I find it is often the case. Many people use gmail for email now, but IM, especially among some techies, is only seen as a fallback, especially on the web. I believe that is simply not the case.
tl;dr gtalk in gmail is my favorite IM client
