What's new on Gmail? :)

Gmail provides users a bare-bones chat interface with a few nice features like the ability to use the same address book you use for mail. Since it's written in Javascript, it runs inside your web browser with no special client download required. That also means that it can be updated at any time, as Google did this week when they added new graphical emoticons (smileys) and group chatting.

For serious chatting though, I recommend a heavyweight client like Pidgin (formerly called Gaim before AOL's lawyers had their way). Pidgin supports over a dozen instant messaging (IM) protocols such as XMPP, AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo messenger. The Google clients support only XMPP. Pidgin runs on Windows and Linux so if you have a Mac you'll have to use something else. The best I've found so far on the Mac is Adium.

BTW, the Gmail storage counter is up to 5.2 GB now.