Gmail has introduced a new feature for its mail application that lets Gmail users to chat with AIM users even if they do not have an AIM account.
To access the feature, login to your Google Gmail account and from there on you can add your AIM contacts just like you used to add a Gmail or a Google talk contact. Your AIM contacts will expand your Contacts list and they can be searched in a similar way you search your Gmail contacts.
In order to invite your AIM buddies to chat, just type their on-screen names ( for example, abcdef@aol.com)into the search field of your Chat roster and click on the Invite to Chat button.
Once your invitations are accepted, you will be able to chat with your AIM buddies in a similar way that you chat with your Gmail buddies.