Yahoo is releasing version 9.0 of its popular instant messaging software, Yahoo Messenger, for Windows tonight. All in all, the update contains nothing revolutionary but does introduce some useful features.
Most remarkably, you can now add embed objects - such as movies, images, and maps - into chat conversations. Also handy: you can synchronize the playback of online videos and share Flickr photos in a slideshow, although only with one friend at a time.
Yahoo has also redesigned the user interface of Messenger’s friends list, bumped up file transfer limits to 2GB per-file, begun automatically scanning transfered files with Norton AntiVirus, added call forwarding to its VoIP offering, and designed new skins. Users can now send SMS messages to their friends’ cell phones with the desktop client. And Messenger has been localized for six new markets - the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India (in Hindi), and Vietnam - raising the sum of localized versions to 25.
While AOL has the most unique instant messaging users in the United States - and MSN has the most worldwide - Yahoo claims that their user base grew by 19% in the past year whereas AOL only grew by 2%.
I asked Yahoo representatives whether they were planning to integrate Yahoo Messenger with their other properties, such as the new social network Mash, but they declined to give any specifics. Hopefully their vague insistence that Yahoo is always looking for ways to integrate its products will lead to something experimental and new, like a Yahoo Messenger-Mash hybrid. A “real-time” social network with extensive chat, messaging, and VoIP calling functionality would be very interesting competition for Facebook and the like. It would also up the ante on MySpace and its integration of Skype, and take on startup FlickIM.
Is anyone using Yahoo IM anymore? Mark - you note Yahoo grew 19%, AOL 2% - it’s a lot easier to grow from 19% from 100 than 2% from 4 million
(numbers made up for simplicity)
lol…Anyone actually remember this?
http://messenger.yahoo.com/windowsvista.php
Yeah, still hasn’t been released. That’s sad at this point. Looked promising.
@Allen Stern, Do you live on the Virtual Earth or Google Earth? Because, more than 200 million people on real earth use Y! IM. It is ranked second after AIM.
Second after AIM? Wow! I use MSN, Yahoo and ICQ, and occasionally that thing built into GMail, but not AIM. In fact, I had an AIM account ages ago, but there wasn’t anyone there. Or would AIM be considered the same as ICQ?
Yahoo Messenger is the only surviving Trump Card of Yahoo….they better handle it correctly…
http://www.meetingflex.com
Social Networking + Video - Crap
Y! Messenger, wow, I haven’t use it for a long logn time. I’d like to give it a try for the vista version. Looks really cool.
THE1000LINKS
Probably that version seems to be for mash users.
i think icq is better!
Interface is very poor…
Use this daily. Yahoo! Messenger is famous in Asian countries.. specially in India! The most used IM Client! Good features they are rolling, I am in love with their web version web.im or webmessenger.yahoo.com ! Just too great!
Cheers!
Still no tabbed IM windows? WTF?
what revolutions you expected?
Virtually everyone I know uses Yahoo Messenger here in the Philippines.
I’m not really keen on tabbed IM windows. I find it easier to alt-tab and I rarely chat with more than 4 people concurrently anyway. However, if they come up with tabbed IM windows and an option to disable it if not needed, that will be great. So far, this beta release is ok, IMHO.
How about tabbed windows!??!! we need tabbed yahoo windows
Y! gets it right again - great step forward with MSN’s following suit!
Yahoo IM is like a virus. It installs 10 apps that you never asked for, screws up your browser, adds plugins, it’s like having your home invaded by robbers. Yahoo hasn’t made a single improvement to it’s IM client in the past 8 years. The only difference between versions is the amount of unwanted crap it installs. Good job Yahoo, but I’m going to keep using Trillian.
@JS: Agree, but you can disable those apps if you want to.
I just wish they’d release a linux version … Their linux version is sooo old. Installation for Red Hat 6,7,8,9 ? Hello, are we living in the stone age ??
@ #12 - Shams: I guess you haven’t seen the preview for “Yahoo! Messenger for Windows Vista” currently being developed? http://messenger.yahoo.com/windowsvista.php
When that is finally released, it’ll without a doubt provide THE richest user experience ever seen in an IM application.
At least somebody is making some updates to their IM… MSN has been pretty much static for what… YEARS now?
Jon
I liked this version of yahoo messenger. For me yahoo search, yahoo mail, finance, news and messenger are integrated part of what I do on the internet for last 10 years. Really liked different languages and integrated media player. Y! IM rocks……