Google Talk For Your Mac?

Google has announced better support for the Macintosh platform, and Mac users around the world are excited to see what’s in store for us when Google finally gets to release its under-development Mac applications. One such app that Mac users have been clamoring for is Google Talk. It’s Google’s approach to instant messaging and VoIP. It’s simple and straight-to-the-point.

However, Mac users are missing on one important thing, and that’s the VoIP support. As of this moment, there is no Google Talk version for the Mac, but you can use third-party IM clients that can run on the Jabber protocol.

Google Talk also runs over GMail+chat, but running your IM client on a Web browser might be too limiting, as you might miss out on more advanced features like control over sound and visual alerts. So far, we think Adium and iChat are the best applications to use if you want to enjoy Google Talk on your Mac.

Adium and iChat

Setting up either Adium or iChat is pretty straightforward. It’s a matter of choice which to use. For instance, iChat features support for voice and videoconferencing with other iChat users (but not over Google Talk). Adium, meanwhile, supports other IM networks like Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN.

iChat

If you prefer iChat, setting it up for Google Talk requires you to create a new Jabber account under iChat. First, open the preferences window of iChat.

Then under Accounts, click the “+” sign to create a new account, then select “Jabber” from the drop-down list. Key in your Google username (usually, username@gmail.com, or if you’re using Gmail for domains, username@yourdomain.com). Key in your password in the password field, and talk.google.com in the server field.

Adium

If you use other IM networks like Yahoo! and MSN, you might want to use Adium instead, so you won’t have to run separate IM clients on your Mac. To set up Google Talk on Adium, first open up the Preferences panel.

Then under the Accounts tab, click the “+” button to add a new account. Select Google Talk.

From there, it’s as simple as keying in your Google username and password. If you use Gmail, add @gmail.com to your username. If you use Gmail for domains, you key in username@yourdomain.com.

What’s great about Google Talk is that it will log all your conversations and save them under your Gmail account, even if you use a third-party IM client to chat. You will find logs under the Chats folder on Gmail.

Enjoy chatting!