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back to article Still using the Google Talk app? You've got ONE WEEK to move on

Google is warning holdout users of its standalone Windows GTalk application that they have one week left before the service will be shut down permanently. Users have, over the past few days, been receiving direct alerts from the Chocolate Factory that 16 February will mark the end of service for an application the company has …

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  1. adfh

    Remember when you could load up all your IM accounts in one program?

    ICQ, AIM, Facebook, MSN/Windows Live, Jabber etc..

    Now things are going back to the silo - and sure, you can install the individual apps, but they're bloated hogs that want to be the default for everything... and on mobile, it's even worse - I mean, why does Yahoo need to keep video/audio call support going in the background even when you're not logged in!?

    Clearly they want to bloat their competitors out and force people to pick their favourite.

    8 0 Reply
    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
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      Re: Remember when you could load up all your IM accounts in one program?

      FWIW Hangouts uses WebRTC in order to be able to run in a browser meaning no additional software required, assuming the browser supports WebRTC.

      1 0 Reply
    2. John Robson Silver badge
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      Re: Remember when you could load up all your IM accounts in one program?

      Since it still runs Jabber you can.

      I use PSI for all my comms protocols (except iMessages grr...)

      At least on the mac the messages app handles them all, but elsewhere I just sacrifice iMessage - Oh well...

      0 0 Reply
  2. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Meh

    Breaking news

    Google get bored of something, make something else very similar but incompatible which coincidently drops open protocols and borks third-party clients.

    7 1 Reply
    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
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      Re: Breaking news

      Along with how many others? Google does, in general, give plenty of advance warning when a service is being switched off. As this article makes clear Google started the migration two years ago.

      But let's compare the switch-off with Microsoft's handling of Skype which required not only a new bit of software but a completely new id.

      2 2 Reply
      1. Dan 55 Silver badge
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        Re: Breaking news

        Mine's still the same but then again I ignored the badgering to link accounts.

        0 0 Reply
        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
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          Re: Breaking news

          @Dan Skype for me on MacOS and Android no longer work without a MS account so they've been removed.

          0 0 Reply
          1. Dan 55 Silver badge
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            Re: Breaking news

            That's probably to do with MS stopping older clients from logging in.

            0 0 Reply
  3. AustinTX

    To Gtalk or not to gtalk

    Does this mean my OBi100 Google Voice ATA will stop working? How about the Motif plugins on my Asterisk server that let me use my Google Voice numbers with my regular desk phone? Crap, I might have to pay for phone service for the first time in 8 years now.

    0 0 Reply
  4. jimjoseph

    TringMe + gtalk will be missed

    I was using Gtalk to make international calls using TringMe, it is an excellent service that allows you to make international calls using gtalk. We will not be able to use them now from gtalk.

    0 0 Reply

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