Google Talk, also called as GTalk, has been ignored by Google for a long time and now finally it has been shutdown recently on February 16. Google is now urging the users of GTalk to try Hangouts for Chrome app. The users can still use Google Talk service using Chrome browser though.
Google has been boasting about its Hangouts app for a long time as a better alternative for Google Talk. However, users of Google Talk kept using the app for file sharing and some other purposes until it was shut down by Google. This also means that the Google Talk support for third party apps has also ended now since Hangouts doesn’t support the required protocols of third party apps like Adium and Pidgin.
The users of Hangouts would disagree with the claims of Google since it is not that easy to use. It presents difficulties for messaging and contains a really confusing interface. The status of the availability of the contacts is also missing. The Chrome extension is not fast enough and crashes often.
Considering the disadvantages of Hangouts, you need to find better third party alternatives. Apps like Psi and Digsby were quite famous once, but don’t hold water now. Trillian is a great app in this regard for messaging your buddies. It supports many chat networks like Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter, and many more. Lighter option of Pidgin is also available. It might seem old, but serves the purpose very well.
You must find the app that best serves your requirements after the exit of Google Talk. The above mentioned apps are some examples.