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The world of Instant Messaging is a mess. Countless protocols, friends on different networks and other complications make IM a potential hassle. Which is why we've always recommended the multi-protocol, all-in-one IM apps, [Adium][1] for Mac and [Pidgin][2] for Windows.
But desktop apps aren't for everyone, which is why I thought I'd point out a great little tutorial over on Lifehacker that walks through the steps necessary to [set up the Google Talk widget in GMail as a multi-protocol messaging client][3].
If you're thinking that sounds too go to be true, you're half right. It does work, though some people have reported problems un-installing the hack, but the main problem is that you'll need to rely on a third party Jabber client to do some forwarding for you. That means your IMs will be visible to a third party. Depending on your paranoia levels and the nature of your chats, that may be a problem.
However, if that doesn't bother you (and if you're already sending unencrypted e-mail through GMail I can't see why it would) setting up GTalk to handle other IM services is surprisingly simple.
You'll need to grab cross platform Jabber client Psi, though you only need to use it once. You'll also need to set up a Jabber transport server, but otherwise the process is pretty straightforward. See Lifehacker for the full details.
[1]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/08/adium-11-featur.html
[2]: http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/05/pidgin_formerly.html
[3]: http://lifehacker.com/software/hack-attack/chat-with-aim-msn-yahoo-and-other-contacts-over-google-talk-289097.php
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