google-hangouts
As of right now, when I run the plugin it is docked at the bottom of my screen on the Windows system bar. I preferred how Talk was docked in gmail. Is there any way to get that behavior back.
NOTE: I do not want to open google plus to do this. I want it either permanently docked in the browser (all tabs) or exclusively in gmail.
Here's a simple solution..
I'm using Chrome for this. (I'm sure all other browsers will work just the same.)
Once you have a hangout window open press the "F11" button. This will make your video somewhat larger. Then take it one step further. Now press & keep it pressed down your "Ctrl" button while pressing the "-" button till you blow up the main video screen. (Of course, to exit out of all of this you'll need to press the "Esc" button to excape. & then the "Ctrl" button plus the "+" until things look normal again in the hangout browser. That way you can better see your navigation to the left again.)
Also, from my experience by doing this. I'm still able to surf in another window of the the same browser with out affecting the size of anything. Meaning, when you make your video smaller or larger in the "Hangout window" it will NOT affect all other opened windows of the same browser.
Hope this has helped you.
This "will" solve your problem.
Best of luck!
Click on "Hangouts" 
at the top of the sidebar.
Best Answer
I feel dumb. I found the answer about 5 minutes after posting this. Figured I post.
From the gmail chat interface you can expand the menu and click "try the new hangouts" option and your old gchat interface that you loved will be updated with all the new hangouts love.
source: http://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/17/tip-manually-turn-on-hangouts-in-gmail-with-this-trick/