Google Labs has a history of releasing some pretty amazing bits of software. Google Earth, Google Mail, Google Reader, Google Analytics, Google Maps and Google Docs are just a few of the graduates! It’s an impressive list to say the least. All of those applications do a fantastic job. I’m a huge fan of all of them and use them all regularly. So, Google, WTF happened to Google Talk?!

When GTalk was first released it was fantastic. It was simple, slick and quick. It even had built-in VOIP support, and the quality was extremely impressive. I decided that this would be my IM of choice, and the one that I would try to get my friends and family to use.

The problem is that, other than a few really minor updates since its first release, GTalk’s development has been stagnant. What appeared to be a really promising start to a new IM client has now become a non-advancing app that just takes up space on my hard drive. The development seems to have stalled. The quality of the voice hasn’t improved. The features of the client haven’t changed or increased. There has been absolutely nothing worthy added to GTalk for as long as I can remember.

In my view, GTalk is in dire need of the following features/improvements:

• A new interface. When it first came out, the lean client was something that was a pleasure to use. It’s now in need of a makeover. A fresh look would do it the world of good.
• Tabbed chats. This is actually the reason why I use Pidgin instead of the GTalk client these days. Not just that, but the Pidgin client is a lot more feature rich (shame it doesn’t support GTalk VOIP).
• More emoticons. ’nuff said.
• Webcam support. How can they have not added webcam support by now? I know there’s a plugin out there made by a third-party developer that provides it, but it should be part of the core. People don’t want to have to search for plugins to get this functionality, it should just work out of the box.
• Encrypted chats. I want to be able to encrypt my conversations. Not because I’m talking about anything dodgey, but because I don’t want my chats logged and data-mined without my permission.
• Cross-platform support. Why are there no versions for Linux or Mac? Even though I might not personally use them, I have friends who do! Let’s give them a fair go too.

So I’ve now removed my GTalk install. I’ll continue to use Pidgin for standard IM (tabbed chats, encryption plugins, cross-platform, multi-protocol), and I’ll use Skype for voice and video chats (voice and video out of the box, encryption, cross-platform). Until the GTalk team finally throw a bit of effort into their product it won’t be making another appearance on my desktop.

PS. Merry Christmas everyone