So Google Talk is finally available within Gmail. If it hasn't been activated on your account already, it will be within the next few weeks.

I really love this. I used it at Google and it was super useful. It's the best chat interface (better even than Meebo IMO) I've seen in a long time, very well integrated with email, and most importantly for me, no stinkin' pop-ups when stuff disconnects! The best thing, though, is that your chats can now be indexed if you want. Then when you search in Gmail you'll get chat results as well. This is incredibly useful for me, because I often have people's phone numbers or other important information in chat history that is only searchable on the machine where I actually had the chat. So I have to look on my laptop, then my desktop, and I don't always find it.

For people who are freaked out by having their chats indexed, this is a completely optional feature. But for me, it's totally worth it. It works no matter what client you use for Google Talk (the Google Windows client, Gaim, Gmail, whatever).

And anyone who has no clue what I'm talking about but would like to find out, feel free to hit me up for Gmail invites at pcolijn gmail com.