After days of speculation, Google has officially launched Google Talk!
Google Talk enables you to call or send instant messages to your friends for free–anytime, anywhere in the world. Google Talk is simple and intuitive to use. There"s no clutter, no pop-ups, no unnecessary software to install. Talk also features some interesting VoIP features like Skype. Google Talk uses the Jabber protocol however instant messaging members of other clients doesn"t appear to be supported.
There"s no Linux or Mac client yet, but there are guides to connecting to the protocol on iChat, Gaim, and Trillian.