I want a uniform protocol

Google Talk has released a beta for few daya ago. It is another Instant Messaging (IM) software like ICQ, MSN, AOL, etc. It used Jabber protocol. In order to add your friends, your friends must have a gmail account.

It is very common that some of my friends use ICQ, some use MSN, while some others use QQ (a china Instant Messaging software). It is very complicated for me to install many IM software clients. It used up a lot of memory too.

There is some software that can connect to MSN, ICQ, AOL, Yahoo IM protocol at the same time. For example, like Trillian (http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/), Miranda (http://www.miranda-im.org/) can connect to the different protocol at the same time. But as they are 3rd party software, some advanced feature cannot be used. For instance, if your friend us MSN Messenger 7.5 to send you a special winks, you cannot see it under Miranda or Trillian.

That is why I still install msn, icq, yahoo messenger seprately. Now, a new protocol comes in, the Google one. I really want a uniformed protocol, if all of them use on single protocol, life could be easier. Many new tech things come in, so many different protocol and formats, making it to be hard for some tech starters.

Add: Tried to add some of the friends in Google Talk. Unfortuately, after they used it for once, never open it again. So addicted to MSN and ICQ.