Yahoo! Messenger
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| Developer(s) | Yahoo! |
|---|---|
| Initial release | March 9, 1998 (as Yahoo! Pager) June 21, 1999 (as Yahoo! Messenger) |
| Stable release |
Windows: 11.5.0.228 / March 13, 2012
Mac: 3.0.2 / July 14, 2012 Linux: 1.0.6 / September 2003 SunOS 5.7: 0.99.17-1 / September 2003 Solaris 8: 1.0.4 / September 2003 FreeBSD 4/5: 1.0.4 / September 2003 Android: 2.0.11 / March 20, 2016 iOS: 1.0.7/ February 29, 2016 |
| Preview release |
Mac: 3.0.1 Beta build 35554 / July 20, 2011
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| Operating system | Android, iOS. Microsoft Windows, Symbian, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris |
| Type | Instant messaging client and Internet phone |
| License | Proprietary adware |
| Website | messenger |
Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated Y!M) is an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and 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 also offers PC-PC, PC-Phone and Phone-to-PC service, file transfers, webcam hosting, text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories.
Yahoo Messenger was originally launched under the name Yahoo! Pager on March 9, 1998.
In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ, it also offers (on Microsoft 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. As of December 14, 2012, all public chat rooms on Yahoo Messenger have been shut down as part of a series of features being changed/added/deleted.
As of March 27, 2016, the only supported clients are the Android, iOS and web browser clients. The legacy Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris clients are not supported anymore, and their servers will begin shutting down on August 5, 2016, with the clients no longer working by August 31, 2016. It turned out that the servers for the legacy clients were finally shut down sometime between the mid-morning & early afternoon hours east coast time on September 1, 2016, resulting in the legacy desktop clients no longer being able to access their buddy/contact lists. On April 12, 2016, Yahoo announced that the messenger would support six non-English languages to bridge the language gap and create personalised experiences for its users. Yahoo Messenger will support Hindi (on Android devices only), Chinese, French, German, Spanish and Indonesian. A new desktop app for Windows and Mac has been released.
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