Yahoo! Messenger: It's Only A Matter Of Time...
Written: Aug 07 '01 (Updated Aug 07 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Widely used, Less elaborate than ICQ, AOL AIM
Cons: Added Features=Excess Baggage!
The Bottom Line: It's only a matter of time before MSN Messenger becomes IM of choice. Well, not really by choice, but by MS's goal of force feeding the World its products.
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| rpllingrock's Full Review: Yahoo! Messenger |
Several years ago, my first attraction to Yahoo Messenger was the fact that it was small, simple and effective as a Instant Messenger (IM). Over the past few years, it has grown in features and unfortunately, size.
This opinion is for version 4.1.0.996 on Windows 2000 utilizing a 1.5 Mbps DSL connection.
Setup/Installation
After downloading the 2.28 MB file, the installation will walk you through the signup process for a Yahoo ID if you don’t already have one.
Some of the choices I made during and after setup include,
·Not having it start with Windows. (I will start manually)
·Remove the Messenger taskbar button. (the icon hides in the tray only)
·Standby and wait until I connect to the Internet. (don’t dial until I say so)
One trick that YM has learned from both MSN and AOL is never really exiting when closing the main interface. This just logs off and sits dormant in the tray waiting to be opened again. You’re forced to right-click the icon to exit.
Features
First and foremost, it is an instant messaging tool. It more closely resembles Microsoft’s version, MSN Messenger than ICQ or AOL IM. Some items that have been added since the early days are the ability to Chat, Call, and Video Conference right from within the interface.
·Messaging- Basic text messaging was not good enough for Yahoo. They felt the desire to add the ability to colorize your text with not only basic colors, but with Color Effects, enabling you to turn your typed text into a rainbow motif or whatever scheme you choose. Also throw in the ability to send Smileys from a scroll down box. All pre-canned and ready to go!
·File Transferring - This has been around since the early days and isn’t all that great to be honest. Many times a file that I received or sent was either corrupted, or the name had been changed from the original. The way it used to work was the file wasn’t actually sent to the user, but sent to Yahoo where the recipient could retrieve it when he or she logged on. With this latest version, it’s not possible. You get a “User is offline” warning. Their not so helpful online “Help” says otherwise.
·Webcams- A more recent addition to YM. Through my testing, I found the quality of both the handling of video and audio to be horrible. Maybe it will be added in a future release, but it would have been nice to have control over audio/video compression. The only adjustments you’re allowed to make are to the actual transmission quality. A slider from Faster Refresh to Better Quality. As anyone who’s ever toyed around with the compression of audio/video over the Internet knows, there always seems to be a sweet spot where you sacrifice one to improve on the other. It’s just not possible in its present configuration.
·Voice Chat- The quality is good on a dial-up connection and nearly flawless on broadband. I’ve used this feature extensively in the past to walk someone through a configuration problem on his or her system. It’s much easier, and not to mention quicker, than typing instructions. Plus, it’s always fun to hear the other person yelling out in frustration. ;)
There are no means to adjust the quality of the compression. There is a wizard that walks you through the basic audio setup process.
·PC to Phone Calls- There was a time when this was free, but as we’ve all come to learn, getting something for nothing on the Internet is getting more difficult. The charge for calls to the US from the US is $.02 per minute. Other charges range from $1.29 to Afghanistan to $.22 to Zimbabwe.
When this was free, the quality was good but I found it less consistent than using DialPad.
·The Interface- I add this as a feature because I utilize as a mini-My Yahoo. A few of the modules that you create on your My Yahoo page will appear as tabs in the lower interface. These include Stocks, Calendar, News Weather, and Sports. The last tab is an overview of all of the above including your web based Yahoo Mail. Clicking any of these links brings up the pertinent Yahoo page.
·Chat- A feature that I use very sparingly. I may frequent the Computing sections occasionally, but little else. I know of a few people that join chat rooms that specialize in support from Cancer to Miscarriage. To them, these rooms helped them share their experience, or learn from others. Unfortunately, sexual innuendo runs rampant in any room at any given time, even in the rooms where you’d least expect it!
Unified Messaging?
Imagine this for a moment. You download any IM you desire, seeking out the features you want, such as voice chat and news updates. The messaging part isn’t really a factor because all of these IMs can intercommunicate with each other. Yahoo IM to AOL IM and so on. When Yahoo and MSN tried to allow AOL users this ability, AOL changed the code, and in a big hurry. AOL wants their service to be proprietary. So why don’t Yahoo and Microsoft create such a system? Because it’s the AOL base they’re after. End of story
Maybe someday there will be a standard that incorporates ALL IM's to communicate with each other. (yeah right)
Overall
What does the future have in store for YM? Let’s put it this way, Microsoft will not stop its relentless bombardment of pre-packaged Internet tools. Windows XP will be the latest example of this propagation into our computers and homes. This inevitably will leave companies like Yahoo, AOL and many others out in the cold.
Yahoo Messenger is still my choice for instant messaging, this because most of my friends and family use it. I am mainly responsible for this because of my encouragement to download and use it.
I can hear myself now over the phone, “I can’t help you fix it until you download Yahoo Messenger! ;)
Recommended:
Yes
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