Chat Away In Gmail

I'm so ecstatic, no words can describe how I feel now. I finally can chat in Gmail! Seeing that screenshot above (click to enlarge) when I logged on to my Gmail, it was like.... it was like.... haiz....I already told you no words can describe already ma! :P

For those worried about privacy, hear not. You can just log out from the chat function and continue using your Gmail as normal. Of course, you can also block them if you are not in the mood to talk to them or probably hiding from your boss. :P

Actually, I'm talking to a few friends now through this chat function and liking it every bit. A couple of days back, I was chatting with my friend with the help of this new feature in Gmail. I was on Google Talk and he was on Gmail. I was so envious he already had the feature while I was still waiting so eagerly to have it integrated into my Gmail. He was quite shocked that there was even such a feature. The integration between Google Talk and Gmail makes so much sense. I've found myself doing small talk so many times using Gmail and it gets quite cumbersome sometimes sending each conversation through email. Now, here's an alternative that makes lots of sense. :)

I'll probably still continue using Google Talk especially for voice calls functionality but at least I know I can go around any computer and just login to my Gmail to chat to any of my online friends using Gmail without having to install Google Talk on any system at all. Simple, no?

One of the most asked for feature was the saving of chat history. Personally, I don't like the idea of my chats being saved but it can come in pretty handy especially when you are discussing some important matters that you might want to refer back later. I like it that Google allows you to control if your chats are being saved or not. In other IMs, you don't even know if the other person is saving your chat history. I just feel more comfortable chatting freely without the knowledge that whatever I say is being recorded down. Of course many will point that the ISPs and the internet content providers are also archiving everything we do online but I guess there's a line to be drawn for paranoia as well.

Anyway, I really am loving this feature and I know I will enjoy and benefit from using it. I'm sure you would too. :)

UPDATE: Found a page listing all the cute emoticons available on Google Chat. Enjoy!