I am a big fan of Instant Messaging. Though I must admit that I favor Yahoo Messenger more than any other IM clients, especially Yahoo Messenger for Mac, I must say that I definitely like Google Talk for Web better than Yahoo Messenger for Web.

Let’s compare the two objectively. I’ll start with the pluses for Yahoo Messenger for Web.

• Slick interface.
• Eye candy.
• Full-featured, minus the voice and video messaging capabilities.
• Shows graphic smileys, avatars and pictures.
• Records the chat history.
• Big window to chat in.

The limitations of Yahoo Messenger for Web:

• Though it is definitely aesthetically pleasing, having the contact list to the left and the chat/message boxes to the right takes some getting used to, especially for left-oriented users like me.
• Although I’ve been logged in to yahoomail, set at two weeks, the sign-on needed to be confirmed.
• No link for quick emailing.
• Long URL.

The pluses of Google Talk for Web:

• Simple, uncluttered interface.
• You can go “off the record,” meaning the servers won’t log your chats.
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling.
• Link to gmail, for quick emails.
• The smileys animate: they twist from their original position (on their sides), to an upright smiley position.
• Short, easy-to-remember URL.

The downside to Google Talk for Web:

• The default window is small, like the size of a normal IM client contact/main window. But you can always resize it.
• The smileys, though they twist to look like right-side-up faces, remain to be text characters.
• Some people may find the interface too simple, like the Google Talk downloadable program.

The similarities of both web-based chat clients:

• Both can do alert sounds.
• Both are java-based.
• Both do tabs.
• Both can show avatars and user pictures.
• Both load pretty fast on either an OS X or Linux machines. The OS X machine has 512 MB of RAM, while the Linux machine has only 256 MB.
• Both do not have the mail alert feature as on their downloadable versions.

Yahoo Messenger for Web is more user-friendly and more pleasing to the eyes, no doubt. But I like the simplicity of Google Talk for Web. In fact, I actually like the Google Talk web application better than the downloadable one. The animated smileys, though, truly endeared me to the Google Talk web application. I was so amused to see them twist and turn into “real” smileys. Though the smileys were not the graphic kind, there was something charming and quirky about the animated text smileys.

On the whole, either web application has its strong and weak points. The bottom line is that they let you communicate, and they make themselves essential to your lifestyle. Choosing which service to subscribe to would depend only on your preferences, and where the bulk of your contacts are in. But between the two, I’d go for Google Talk for Web anyday. It really must be the smileys. :p