I don’t use Gtalk. I use the one that’s integrated with my mail instead. I use Skype to make calls anyway and use Yahoo Messenger for my Instant Messagingneeds. So there’s no point in installing yet another software. The Gmail, Gtalk integration is pretty cool, even if it can be annoying at times. 
I was pleasantly surprised to see two new sets of emoticons or smileys on the integrated Gtalk today. For people who use smileys quite a bit, like me for instance, this is a welcome change.
This is how they look:
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- Gtalk Emoticons
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- Gtalk Emoticons-02
Nice, but how do i use it?
Pidgin.
@Hari,
You should see it on your mail. If you have Gtalk installed, you should check if a newer version is available.
@Marc,
Lots of people use pidgin and it’s good. You can fake idle status and it comes in handy.
Other than google and yahoo i haven’t installed anything else. Both is more than enough for me.
@Rachel,
Yes, the two should be sufficient. However, Pidgin lets you use more than on messenger from the same interface. You should also try meebo.com when you do not have messenger installed. (say, like in college)
People successfully fool other people into thinking they aren’t available just by setting their status text to ‘I’m on SMS’.