Yahoo!

Yahoo! Messenger

Yahoo! Messenger Protocol

Yahoo! Messenger
Yahoo! Messenger 7.0.0.426 Contact List under Windows
Maintainer:	Yahoo!
Latest release:	7.0.2.120 / December 23, 2005
OS:	Windows 98/Me, 2000, and XP, Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, Mac OS 8, Unix
Genre:	Instant Messenger
License:	Proprietary
Website:	messenger.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Messenger is a popular instant messaging client and protocol provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger is provided free of charge and can be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo! ID" which also allows access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail, where users can be automatically notified when they receive new email. Yahoo Instant Messenger also includes a security feature which allows the user to be "invisible" to whomever they choose; however, this feature is easily bypassed by using Buddy Spy, a free third party application.

In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger, it also offers (on the Windows operating system) some unique features such as: IMVironments (customizing the look of Instant Message windows) and Custom Status Messages. Another recently added feature is customized avatars. However, none of these features are available on other platforms, such as Mac OS X.

Yahoo! Messenger 2.5.3 for Mac offers drastically fewer features than the Windows release, has not been updated in several years. The current version has been reported to be quite buggy when run on the latest version of Mac OS X, and it is very primitive when compared to other messenging applications for Macintosh. Yahoo! reports that there is no timeline set for the release of any updates for the Apple Macintosh messenger. There are unconfirmed rumors however that Yahoo! plans to respond to criticism from Mac users with a new client sometime in the future.

Yahoo! has announced a partnership with Microsoft to join their instant messaging networks. This would make Yahoo! Messenger compatible with Microsoft's .NET Messenger Service. It would also make Microsoft's MSN Messenger compatible with Yahoo!'s Network. This change is expected to take effect in the first half of 2006.

Yahoo! Messenger allows access to Yahoo! chat rooms. They are free of charge, although the Java-based chat room system does not work with Macintosh web browsers.

Latest Releases

Windows

7.0.2.120 / December 23, 2005.

Mac OS X and Mac OS 8/9

2.5.3 / September 24, 2003

Several third-party clients exist that can connect to the Yahoo! Messenger network, such as, Fire, Adium, and Proteus

Unix

1.0.4

The Unix version looks different from the Windows version.

Version 1.0.6.1 is available for Gentoo Linux (masked as ~x86).

Feature-rich open source Linux clients are available for Yahoo Messenger such as gyach.

Feature & Release History

Windows

• Prior Releases — Undocumented
• 7.0.0.426 — August 8, 2005
  • Renamed to "Yahoo! Messenger with Voice"
  • Drag-and-drop photo sharing
  • Drag-and-drop file sharing
  • PC-to-PC calling
  • Voicemail
  • Ringtones
  • Yahoo! 360 integration
  • Pop-up Contact Cards
  • Spam Reporting
  • New tabs
  • New emoticons
  • Archive updates
  • LiveWords (Beta)
• 7.0.0.437 — August 30, 2005

Mac

• Prior Releases - Undocumented
• 2.5.3 - September 24, 2003
  • Chat
  • Webcam
  • Conference chat

Resources

• Yahoo! Messenger Plus, free plugin project
• Queeeenofspadez, Skins for Yahoo Messenger 7
• Modernmorph.com, Yahoo Messenger Skins and Downloads
• Yahoo Nation!, Community providing polygamy patches, skins and other cool stuff for yahoo messenger
• BuddyCheck, continuously checks a list of contacts to see which ones are online, even if they are invisible or are using Stealth Mode.
• Buddy Spy, Buddy Spy allows you to keep track of what Yahoo Messenger user are doing, even if they are in Invisible Mode. The program shows if the user is online, what chat room is used (if any) and if their web cam is online.
• SayItBold, Allows users to send IM directly to a website (may not be a legit site -- unknown if it is an ID farming site for SPAM)

External links

• Yahoo! Messenger

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.