According to engineering team insider Josh Wiseman, Facebook will start rolling out the long awaited Facebook Chat system this week. Although you might think that Facebook provides plenty of chatting opportunity already, courtesy of the Wall and Inbox functionality, the argument is that neither offer the immediacy of a true IM style chat system. Which is where Facebook Chat steps up to the plate and fills that gap.

"We'll be rolling this out slowly going forward, but fairly soon you'll notice our new Chat bar at the bottom of your browser - no installation or assembly required. From this bar you can view your list of online friends and open conversations with any or all of them. There's no need to setup a "buddy list." Unlike the Wall or Inbox, the messages are delivered and displayed to your friend as soon as they're sent, so you should expect a response right away and without any page loading" Wiseman says.

He also admits that chat is not a new concept, and that IM systems have been around for more than a decade. What he fails to mention is that, at least according to early reports, the Facebook Chat system will not integrate with any of them. This is strictly an in-house, Facebook to Facebook member chat feature.