Instant messengers (IM) have come and gone. And I’ve been lucky enough to use most of them including the AOL-Netscape IM, Jabber, ICQ (the mother of all IMs), Yahoo, and the ones from IndiaTimes and Rediff. I can say that Yahoo! rules.
I’ve been driven towards Yahoo Messenger because of its features and user-friendliness. It’s easy to set-up and I didn’t take much time to learn most of the features. And above all it’s gives you maximum control over your privacy. Like the option to ignore users. Nice when you get messages from people you don’t know, especially because IMs are now being used for SPAM! You can choose to be a silent listener/spectator to whatever is happening around.
Chat Features
Lots of Emoticons/Smileys and particularly the undocumented ones like the rose.
IMvironments which simulate real life scenes like fish tank, snow flakes etc. add life to chat
Format option for messages help you choose the font, size and color.
Archiving your chat messages, which can be very nostalgic at times.
Voice chat and conference where you can actually speak to more than one person is really fast and clear even on normal dialups.
Webcam support is reliable and robust. You can easily set it up.
Transferring files is easy and fast.
Some of the best Add-ons are access to the customized News, customized Weather Report, Calendar, Bookmarks and alerts which are very helpful, especially if you have a active Yahoo! account.
Support for proxies is excellent which means you can use it even from office, like I do! Statutory warning: It is not advisable to use Yahoo! Messenger during office hours.
Hints
Turn off the Yahoo! insider which pops up when you login. Go to Login -> Preferences -> General
A few ’hidden’ emoticons in Yahoo! Messenger
Cow: 3:-0 or 3:-o or 3:-O or 3:O
Rose: @};-
Alien: =:) or =:-)
Skull: 8-X
Pig: :@)
Monkey: :(|)
Light Bulb: *-:)
American Flag: **==
Jack-O-Lantern: (~~)
Closing words: If you ain’t still on it, you are missing the best.
:bejoy