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Introducing Yahoo! Messenger

What Is...Installing Messenger and Signing InYour Yahoo! Address BookConnecting With Your FriendsGetting Started

What is Yahoo! Messenger?

Yahoo! Messenger is an all-in-one communication package, and anyone, anywhere in the world, with a computer and Internet connection can use it. And the best part? It’s free.

The Messenger window

With Yahoo! Messenger, you can:
  • Instant message friends in real time, including your Windows Live™ Messenger friends.
  • Add a Pingbox™ to your personal Web page so that you can instant message the people who visit your page.
  • Call and talk with your friends. You can call a friend’s computer, mobile phone, and even the old-fashioned home phone.
  • Share your favorite photos.
  • Send text (SMS) messages to a friend’s mobile phone.
  • Forward your instant messages to your mobile phone when you’re away from your computer.
  • Save friends’ contact details in your Yahoo! Address Book and access the information in Messenger.
  • See and be seen with webcam.*
  • Add plug-ins to do such things as listen to music through LAUNCHcast Radio, check your mail, and play games with your friends.
  • Check out what your friends are up to by viewing their updates.
  • Add color and graphics to your conversations and change the look of the application.

* The webcam isn’t supplied.

Tip: Not all Yahoo! Messenger features are available when you converse with contacts outside the Yahoo! network, such as your Windows Live contacts and your Pingbox visitors.

 

What’s Next

If you haven’t already, install Yahoo! Messenger and start communicating with your friends online. Hey, shouldn’t you let all of your friends know about Yahoo! Messenger?

 

Help Topics

 
 

Words to Know

  • Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.
  • LAUNCHcast Radio: a streaming music service that allows you to create your own customized station tailored to your tastes and provides an extensive collection of other music stations that offer a wide variety of genres and themes to choose from.
  • Pingbox: an embedded box on a Web page where visitors to the page can send you instant messages and which lists visitors on your Messenger List.
  • Plug-in: a software program that adds a specific feature or to another program.
  • Updates: a service that lets you know what your friends are up to, such as when they post photos on Flickr or write a review on Yahoo! Travel.
  • Webcam: a video camera typically attached to a computer.
  • Windows Live™ Messenger: Microsoft® Windows’ free instant messaging application.