Yesterday, Google released a lab edition of Google Talk. Essentially, it’s a desktop version of the Google Talk gadget that can be added to your website.

What’s New?

Tabs, emoticons, group chat, and desktop notifications for:

• Gmail
• Google Calendar (with snooze option)
• Orkut

Of course there’s more, which they refrain from mentioning, but what I don’t see is support for voice and file transfer that the original desktop client supports. It also doesn’t sport the AIM integration that seems to only be found in the web versions, most notably within the Gmail chat client.

Why Isn’t This In The Desktop Version?

What I don’t understand is why Google saw the need to make another version of the Google Talk client instead of integrating this stuff into the desktop client?! When is the last time that thing had an upgrade anyway? Don’t you think it’s about time to merge your clients instead of spending your 20% time over there creating new versions of Google Talk, Google?! Are you listening to me, Google? I want AIM support and better emoticons in the original Google Talk desktop client!

Kudos to the Google Operating System blog for keeping me posted about it!