In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ, it also offers (onMicrosoft Windows) features such as: IMVironments (customizing the look of Instant Message windows, some of which include authorized themes of famous cartoons such as Garfield or Dilbert), address-book integration and Custom Status Messages. It was also the first major IM client to feature BUZZing and music-status. Another recently added feature is customized avatars. Yahoo! Messenger also allows users to access Yahoo! Chat Rooms.
Features
Voicemail and file sharing
Yahoo! added voicemail and file sending capabilities to their client. File-sharing of sizes up to 2GB was added to Yahoo messenger.[citation needed]
Plug-ins
As of 8.0, Yahoo! Messenger has added the ability for users to create plug-ins (via the use of the freely available Yahoo! Messenger Plug-in SDK), which are then hosted and showcased on the Yahoo! Plug-in gallery. Yahoo now no longer provides plugin development SDK.
Yahoo! Music Radio
Main article: Yahoo! Music Radio
Yahoo! Messenger users can listen to free and paid Internet radio services, using the official Yahoo! Music Radio plug-in from within the messenger window. The plug-in also allows full player functionality, such as play, pause, skip and rate this song.
Webcam
Yahoo's software now allows users with the most current updated versions (messenger 8 through 10) to utilize its webcam service. This option enables users from distances all over the world to view others who have installed a webcam on their end. The service is free with provided speeds averaging from a range in between 1 to 2 frames per second. The resolution of the images can be seen starting at 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120.
Games
There are various games and applications available that can be accessed via the conversation window by clicking the games icon and challenging your current contact. It requires Java to work.
Chat
All versions of Yahoo! Messenger can access Yahoo! chat rooms.
In June 2005, with no advance warning, Yahoo! disabled users' ability to create their own chat rooms. The move came after KPRC-TV inHouston, Texas reported that many of the user-created rooms were geared toward pedophilia. The story prompted several advertisers, including Pepsi and Georgia-Pacific, to pull their ads from Yahoo!.
Yahoo! has since closed down the chat.yahoo.com site (which is now a redirect to a section of the Yahoo! Messenger page) because the great majority of chat users accessed it through Messenger. The company is still working on a way to allow users to create their own rooms while providing safeguards against abuse. A greyed-out option to "create a room" was available until the release of version 11.
Facebook
A recently added feature in Yahoo! Messenger allows users to connect with their Facebook friends through the messenger.
Release history
Main article: Yahoo! Messenger release history
§ Windows - 11.5.0.192 - February 24, 2012
§ Mac OS X - 3.0.1 Beta (build 35554) - January 10, 2011
§ Unix - 1.0.4 - September 2003. It can still be downloaded from Softpedia.
§ Version 1.0.6 can be downloaded from the Unix Beta page: http://public.yahoo.com/~mmk/
Yahoo! released a preview version of Yahoo! Messenger: Yahoo! Messenger for Windows Vista. It had been designed to exploit the new design elements of Vista's Windows Presentation Foundation and entitled a whole new user interface and features. It lacked some basic functions such as webcam support. It has been discontinued.
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