My Thoughts
FEATURES - This is a chat program but has some other features aswell. These are things like checking stocks, scores from sport events and news items. Each can be customised to suit your own tastes. The great thing is that if you have no interest in these extras they don't nag you. To get them you click on their tab. On the bad side the stocks are delayed by something like 20 minutes. Although therr are some English papers to choose from in the news feature, I feel there aren't enough. I like the waythe can get sports, entertainment and business news seperatly. Personally I have no interest ia business news.
The program works together with your yahoo mail a\c to tell you when you have new mail. (This feature is available for hotmail a\c using MSN Messenger.)

CHAT - What makes this program a winner though is its main function - chatting. It has a simple interface lihe that of MSN Messenger yet has more features and is easier to find people to chat to. In the latest version the ability to send files was added. This is extremely handy for send people a pic of yourself while chatting instead of having to send it through email.

VOICE CHAT - Voice chat is cool aswell although not everybody has a microphone. The sound quality isn't great as you can imagine but it's still worth a try. My friends can recall embarressing incidents where they couldn' tell if they were talking to a man or woman and had to ask which they were!
More than 2 people can voice chat at a time and the same applies to normal chat. This is called conferencing. Like in ICQ, messages can be sent to people both on and off line although I think to send offline messages the reciever must have Yahoo! Messenger. But anyone with a Yahoo a\c can recieve online messages. They must be in a yahoo chatroom or gamesroom. Indead it's the yahoo site itself which makes the program worthwhile. Meet people in message boards, gamesrooms, chatrooms and clubs and chat. There's also a search for messanger users. Search by name, location, age and interests.

FINAL NOTE - I recommend this for absolutly everyone. You need a Yahoo a\c but that's not a big deal coz Yahoo is full of interesting stuff.

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What Computer Active said:
The messenger formally known as Pager has developed a voice. Taking the chat format one step further, the Voice Chat feature built into Yahoo's messenger enables people to speak directly to one another so long as both have microphones and speakers hooked up to their computers. It has to be said that the quality is somewhat rough and patchy, especially on transatlantic conversations, but it's worth a try for the novelty value if nothing else. Voice Chat aside, this messenger falls somewhere between AIM and MSN messenger, offering more features than the latter - including a decent bundle of news, stocks and shares links - but a much smaller client base than AIM. Registration with Yahoo, which is free, is required.

Download.com's review:
Yahoo Messenger (formerly known as Yahoo Pager) is a free service that allows you to see when friends come online and send them instant messages. It can also alert you when you have new mail in your Yahoo Mail or Yahoo Personals account, or when you have an upcoming meeting in Yahoo Calendar. Yahoo Messenger offers firewall support; a standby mode that minimizes the program until an Internet connection is made; the ability to save and print your conversations; and a tabbed interface that provides quick access to your favorite stocks, news, and sports scores (see screen shot). Other features include the ability to automatically create a chat room, stock price alerts, the ability to send messages to friends even if they're not online when you are, and a Quick Compact mode that hides the Messenger tools to maximize your viewing area. This latest version includes a new feature that allows you to conduct voice chat sessions with other Yahoo Messenger users (requires sound card, microphone, and speakers).

Info on Yahoo Messenger from Softseek.com:
Yahoo! Messenger lets you send instant messages to other online users and track your stock portfolio.
You can see when friends, family and colleagues are online. Privacy and blocking features are built in. You can create a Yahoo! chat room and invite your friends in. In addition, Yahoo! Messenger will alert you when you have new mail in your Yahoo! Mail account.

You can also track your stock portfolio and create and use stock price limit alerts. You can even keep tabs on the latest news and sports scores. You can also conduct voice chat sessions with other Yahoo Messenger users.

Yahoo! Messenger was formerly called Yahoo! Pager.

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