Editor’s note: This review is based on Yahoo! Messenger (http://messenger.yahoo.com) version 3, 5, 0, 842, MyYahoo Module 2, 0, 0, 352

Currently under fire from rival chat software clients like America Online’s Instant Messenger and ICQ, Yahoo! Messenger is still simple enough for Internet newbies, yet veterans of the World Wide Web will find it’s features somewhat lacking.

Integrated with many of Yahoo!’s free services like chat (http://chat.yahoo.com), news (http://dailynews.yahoo.com), Sports highlights and scores (http://sports.yahoo.com), Calendar (http://calendar.yahoo.com), free web and pop based email (http://mail.yahoo.com), personal & classified ads (http://personals.yahoo.com & http://classifieds.yahoo.com), and stock alerts which are updated every 20 minutes.

When running Yahoo’s instant messenger, you are bestowed upon the software’s “Buddy List.” The list can store any Yahoo! User that you have met, either through email, chat, auctions, etc. Buddies who are online feature an icon to the left of their name, which is highlighted, along with having their screen name appear in bold text. Your buddy list can be edited very easily to add, delete & ignore users, however ignoring a person on the buddy list can be quite a task for someone who is new to computers and the internet. Here is as example:

You must double click the persons screen name, highlight their screen name in the upper left corner of the chat window, copy (control + c) it, close the instant message window, open up the privacy options menu (located under the Login menu), click on “privacy” to the left of the window, press “Add,” then paste (control + p) the persons screen name, then click on “Ignore.”

Unlike previous versions of AOL’s IM and ICQ, your buddy list is saved on Yahoo’s servers rather than a local text file that you have to carry around with you on disk. This makes it convenient while using the messenger on more than one computer, such as using your messenger account on a friend’s computer.

Yahoo! allows each account up to 7 different screen names, but only one physical email address. When new email is received, the messenger will alert you by sounding off a .wav file (pow.wav to be exact, but all sounds can be customized with your own sounds, or sounds from other chat programs), a small alert window will appear in the middle of the screen which includes two buttons, one which allows you to check your new email, the other closes the alert window. The third alert is located just above the taskbar above the clock, which tells you who just sent you a new email and the subject of the message. Using the web based email can sometimes be tricky, especially since Yahoo!’s email is often down or running slower than usual. The solution: POP3 protocol. POP3 allows you to use your favorite email software like Netscape Communicator, Outlook Express, or Eudora. For those of you who already have a Yahoo! Email account, follow these steps to using POP access:

Open up your favorite web browser (preferably Netscape 3 or Internet Explorer 4 or higher), and go to http://mail.yahoo.com (sign in if necessary). To the left of the screen, you will see a left frame with several links to choose from, click on “Options.” Scroll down until you can’t, look for the link entitled “Pop Access & Forwarding” and click on it. On the next screen, make sure “Web & Pop Access” (in Step 1). Down below, choose “HTML Messages” (AOL users should select “Text Messages Only”), then click submit.

Incoming Mail Server: pop.mail.yahoo.com
Outgoing Mail Server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

Yahoo! Messenger now includes an integrated chat room client, no more opening up a web browser, signing in, and waiting for chat applets to load, it’s all accessible by just one button located at the top of the messenger window. I find this feature very convenient, especially since I hate using the browser for chatting. The chat window features three frames. In the left frame (“Categories”), you can select room categories in a hierarchy menu. The top right frame (“Yahoo Rooms”) contains selectable rooms that are within the specific category that you just selected in the left frame. The bottom right frame (“User Rooms”), are rooms that are created by users, not Yahoo! The chat client is very stable, I hardly ever run into problems with it. Once in a chat room, you can select your chat font, colors (which can be faded or mixed). Chatters are listed to the right of the chat window, and can be double clicked on with the left mouse button to instant message the user. Right clicking on a chatter engages a small menu with several options: “Send Instant Message,” “Add To Friend’s List,” “Ignore User,” “View Profile (this opens a web browser)” “View Files (also opens a web browser),” “Follow User,” “Send File Attachment,” & “Send Email” which opens another menu with options for using the web based email or using your default email software (like Outlook Express).

Want to call someone long distance? Yahoo! Messenger features a “Call” option located at the top of the screen. Some sound card setup is required before using this feature, but it’s not too difficult, I believe that a beginner can get through this without any confusion. In all honesty, I haven’t used this feature because of my incredibly slow Internet connection (26,400 bps); I recommend that you at least have a 56K or higher connection to use this option. Also, a microphone and speakers are required.

The voice chat features are somewhat delayed, unless you have a faster connection like cable, DSL, or T1. You can start a private voice chat with friends on your buddy list by right clicking a friend who is online, then selecting “Invite To Conference” Voice chat is half duplex, meaning only one person can talk at a time like on a CB radio or walkie talkie.

Stability & Performance:

I have been using various version of Yahoo! Messenger on different operating system platforms like Windows 95.A IBM OEM, Windows 95.B OSR 2.5 OEM, Windows 98 Full (non-OEM), Windows 98 Compaq OEM, Windows 98 Second Edition (non-OEM), Windows ME Full (non-OEM) & Windows 2000 Professional OEM. I have never had any serious problems with the latest versions of messenger except for on a few occasions it forced me to restart my computer (the menus and buttons within the messenger have distorted and become nonfunctional). If you do not have Yahoo! Messenger and would like to try a demo of it, go on over to http://messenger.yahoo.com/ and click on “Java” (located on the left of the screen). You need a Java capable browser such as Netscape 3 or Internet Explorer 4 and JavaScript (not Java) must be enabled.

Yahoo! Messenger requires Internet Explorer 4 or higher to run, available at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/. If installed, IE MUST BE THE DEFAULT BROWSER! If you have more than one web browser installed this is very important. To make sure IE is your default browser, close Netscape, opera or any other non-IE browser, then open up IE. A small window will pop in the middle of screen alerting you that IE is not the default browser, simply click on “Yes.”

I also run the messenger alongside my other chat software such as ICQ, AOL IM, and MSN messenger without any conflicts.




Recommended: Yes