You can start chatting with anyone in your contact list simply by clicking their name. A new tab will open within the Google Talk Gadget - just type your message into the chat window and press Enter.

If you don't see your friend's name in your contact list, type their name into the Search, add, or invite field. Your contact list will filter down to match the text as you enter it - once the desired contact appears, click their name to open a chat tab. You can also use the arrow buttons to page through your full contact list.

Click here to go to the Google Talk Center.

Set up Google Talk to make Gmail your default email client