Earlier this week,
Google scored a major coup when it was announced that they had beat out
Microsoft and would
acquire a 5% stake in
America Online. Now Google has announced that a major IM project is already underway to provide connectivity between
Google Talk and
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).
Yes, the battle lines in the IM war have been drawn. On one side you have
Microsoft and Yahoo working together to provide interoperability between Windows Live Messenger (currently in beta testing) and Yahoo! Messenger. And on the other, you have
AOL and Google (and potentially any Jabber client).
Of course, Google Talk is a Jabber client. You can already
connect to Google Talk using most Jabber-capable clients, including
Gaim,
Trillian,
iChat,
Meebo and many others.
According to
eWeek, the Google-AIM project will not provide true, cross-network interoperability. In simple terms, you will be able to use Google Talk to chat with AIM users, but you'll still need to register and setup an AIM account. This is a positive move, but what consumers really want is one account that let's them chat with their friends regardless of the IM network.