Jabber is an open protocol, it bases on XML and it support
other protocol such as AIM, ICQ and MSN Messenger.
Windows Messenger, SMS and E-mail are also support.

gtalk bases on XMPP, XMPP bases on Jabber, Jabber support MSN protocol.
Therefore, we can send message to MSN friends via gtalk.

How can we do that? just follow me...

1. First, we need to install a software, Psi.
Psi is a Jabber Client. It take adventage of Jabber.
you can download it here: http://psi-im.org/download

2. Make sure you close your Gtalk. Run Psi Jabber Client.
Add your Gtalk account in "Account setup".
Gtalk host is "talk.google.com", port number is "5223"
for host.

3. Go online with this account, then click "services discovery"
type "jabber.org" in the address field. Click on Browse button,
it will give you a list of services server such as AIM, ICQ and MSN.
Please right click on MSN, select "register", then enter your MSN
account and password.
There are some other Jabber servers:
　jabber4friends.de
　　jabber.ru
　　ursine.ca
Here is a full list of Jabber servers

4. Close Psi client. Run Gtalk. Now, you can chat with your MSN friend
Of course, you can do that in Gmail talk as well. Psi can be uninstalled
after this.

Wonderful, isn't it?

Yes it is, but why not just use a jabber client and talk with all the people you want on different protocols, including gtalk ? Personally I still rarely speak on Google Talk because I don't have many friends there, most of us (me and my friends/people I know) moved to Skype, from IRC and from MSN/AIM/ICQ

Thanks!!! This has helped my a lot! (I really want to use all caps to express my emotions! :D ) But your instructions were a little unclear, so I had to look in some extra places for help.

For those who were slightly confused like me, here are some more detailed instructions:
To set up your gmail account in Psi:
1. Create a new account (It should automatically ask you to do that after you install it)
2. Under the "Account" tab, enter your gmail address in "Jabber ID", and enter your password below
3. Go to the "Connections" tab. Check every box. Then enter the host and port as jedipi has said.

When you're at the "services discovery" window, and you can't find the msn/aim/etc services:
1. Copy one of the servers that jedipi has said in his post.
2. Paste it in the Addresss box to try that server.
3. If none of the servers had the services you need, go here for a list of almost all the Jabber servers.
(hint: ursine.ca had all the services available when I tried it.)

I use Google Talk because it's really fast and small. It takes less than 2 seconds for it to start up. That's why I don't like to open Yahoo/MSN/etc. That's also the reason that I don't like Trillian or other similar big programs.


I have another question, though. Why do you have to "Register" for the services? I already have an account for each of them, so why do I need to register using the same ID and password? Why can I just "log in"?

And do you mind if you change the topic title to "...Your MSN/Yahoo/etc. Friends"? I think it'd be much more fitting for this topic, since your instructions can be used for any service, not just MSN.

Thanks for szupie to make the instructions more clear...
I love to change the topic title to make it more fitting for this topic.
however, I cannot (don;t know how to do that.)

[note=szupie]OK, done. I hope you don't think it looks ugly.[/note]

I think it’s great that you can talk to your friends in different instant messenger programs. But what I am most concerned about is if you can talk to all of them at the same time? For example, talk to a friend on Yahoo Messenger and another on MSN?

Easiest thing in the world .... use Meebo . That's what I use most of the time to keep my bandwidth from getting bogged down by yahoo messenger.

An other advantage of using GTalk to chat with all your contacts is that you can keep your conversation logs online so you can check them out wherever you are:)

I prefer using Windows Live Messenger to talk to people on Yahoo! Messenger. I have no friends on Google Talk, therefore this would be a waste of disk space and time.

If you have IM2 or Trillian, it is better than this.