Yahoo! Messenger
Instant messaging protocol / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated Y!M) was an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger was provided free of charge and could be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo ID" which also allowed access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail. The service also offered VoIP, file transfers, webcam hosting, a text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories.
Developer(s) | Yahoo! |
---|---|
Initial release | |
Final release |
|
Operating system | Android, iOS. Windows, Windows Mobile, macOS, BlackBerry OS, FreeBSD, Solaris, SunOS |
Type | Instant messaging client and Internet phone |
License | Proprietary adware |
Yahoo! Messenger dates back to Yahoo! Chat, which was a public chat room service. The actual client, originally called Yahoo! Pager, launched on March 9, 1998[1] and renamed to Yahoo! Messenger in 1999. The chat room service shut down in 2012.[3][4]
In addition to instant messaging features similar to those offered by ICQ, it also offered (on Microsoft Windows) features such as: IMVironments (customizing the look of Instant Message windows, some of which include authorized themes of various cartoons such as Garfield or Dilbert), address-book integration and Custom Status Messages.[5] It was also the first major IM client to feature BUZZing and music-status.
A new Yahoo! Messenger was released in 2015, replacing the older one. Yahoo! Messenger was shut down entirely on July 17, 2018, replaced by a new service titled Yahoo! Together, only to be shut down as well in 2019.[6][7]