GoogleKnot

Google Talk is being integrated into the Gmail Interface. You will be able to chat with with your Talk buddies though gmail and not have to download and install any client program. You will not be able to do voice without the client, however. Even more superprodundo is the fact that all your Talk transcripts will be logged and searchable through gmail. And yes, you can go "off the record" for those little on the job cybersoirees. In addition Talk users can talk with any user on the Jabber network

A unique feature of the Jabber system is that of transports, also known as gateways, which allow users to access networks using other protocols - such as AIM and ICQ (using OSCAR), MSN Messenger and Windows Messenger (using the .NET Messenger Service), Yahoo! Messenger, SMS or E-mail. Unlike multi-protocol clients like Trillian or Gaim, Jabber provides this access at the server level by communicating via special gateway services running on a remote computer. Any Jabber user can 'register' with one of these gateways by providing the information needed to log on to that network, and can then communicate with users of that network as though they were Jabber users. This means that any client which fully supports the Jabber protocol can be used to access any network to which a gateway exists, without the need for any extra code in the client.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabber)

So it looks like it wont neccesary to convert those in the dark ages of AIM and MSN