So you've been (happily and willingly) absorbed in the Google Borg collective, and you're missing out chatting with your Google mates.

Granted, you can chat inside Gmail when you're using FireFox (chat in Safari is not yet supported), but its just not the same.

Fear not! Apart from .Mac and AIM, iChat also supports the Jabber protocol, which so happens to be the underlying technology in Google Talk.

To configure:

1. Open iChat.
2. From the iChat menu, select 'Preferences...'
   
   
   
   
3. Click 'Accounts' along the top of the dialogue box.
4. Click the '+' button along the bottom to add a new account.
   
   
   
   
5. Select 'Jabber Account' from the 'Account Type:' drop-down menu.
6. Enter the following information in the appropriate fields:
   • Jabber ID: Your full Gmail email address (including '@gmail.com')
   • Password: Your Gmail password
   • Server: talk.google.com
   
   
   
   
7. Click 'Add.'
8. Highlight your new account in the 'Accounts' section, and then click 'Server Settings.'
9. Enter the following information in the appropriate fields:
   • Server: talk.google.com
   • Port: 5223
   
   
   
   
10. Check the boxes next to 'Connect using SSL' and 'Allow self-signed certificates.' You don't need to check the box next to 'Warn before password is sent insecurely' -- your password is always secure with Google Talk.
11. Enter 'iChat' in the 'Location:' field. If this field is left blank, you won't be able to sign in.

Congratulations! You are now ready to connect to the Google Talk service using iChat.
Once you've configured iChat to connect to the Google Talk service, you may receive a warning message that states your username and password will be transferred insecurely. This error message is incorrect; your username and password will be safely transferred.

Source: Google

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