Yahoo! releases Messenger for Mac 3.0

Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Video, Yahoo!, P2P, Beta

Yahoo! releases Messenger for Mac 3.0

by Chris Gilmer Sep 7th 2007

If you use Yahoo! Messenger on a Mac, now is the time to upgrade. The team has finally announced a new beta version with a bunch of new features. Don't get overly excited though, a major one is missing.

It's been a little while, but the time has come for the new Yahoo! Messenger Mac 3.0 Beta. We will mention this little tidbit first and slap Yahoo!'s hand a little as it is the most important feature that has not yet dropped into the application, voice calling. It's important, and Yahoo! knows this, why they released this application without it is anyone's guess. Nevertheless, the new version is out and does give users a much improved user experience.

Tabbed IM windows now appear as separate tabs so there is less clutter on desktops. If you feel like using separate windows, drag the tab out to create one.
Chat rooms that were once only opened up to Windows users, can now accept Mac users.
All instant messages and all chat room conversations can be archived on your computer for searching and reference.
Stability issues for file transfers and webcams have been fixed up and cleaned out.
Then there are the emoticons. No user interface is complete without pretty icons, and the new Mac Messenger has them.

Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 runs on Mac OSX 10.4 or later. And please Yahoo! add some voice!

Tags: beta, mac, messenger, osx, yahoo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ted Wallingford said 1:30PM on 9-07-2007

The voice feature will never come to the Mac version because the Truespeech codec used is licensed to Microsoft (not Yahoo) exclusively and the last reference version of the codec for the Mac was on Mac OS 8.6. Interestingly, Gizmo Project has enabled Mac-to-Windows Yahoo voice talks using a system of proxies, but it's still a crappy-at-best solution.

Joe Beaulaurier said 3:26PM on 9-07-2007

The overly vocal minority of computer users that are the Mac users will always find something to complain about. It's part of being a Mac user apparently.

Mike said 5:01PM on 9-07-2007

Has photo sharing been enabled? Drives me nuts when talking to people on a mac and they don't have that great option.

Ted Wallingford said 5:16PM on 9-07-2007

Actually I think, of all the IM/chat solutions for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Yahoo remains the weakest. That's probably why I spend more time on Gizmo and Skype than anything else. And yes, when something needs improved, Mac users tend to be more vocal than Windows users. Not sure why, maybe Mac folks just care more. Ha!

Bootes said 5:48PM on 9-07-2007

Well we can complain about missing features, but Yahoo is the best and most feature rich of the official instant messaging clients for OS X.

Thomas said 7:42PM on 9-07-2007

I was waiting for someone to say it had tabbed messages. Why don't they flaunt that feature a little more. It's a big one in my book.

Theo Lotz said 10:57PM on 9-07-2007

Anybody have a screen shot of the contact list window yet? That would be the one to make me decide if its worth leaving AdiumX for a 'factory' client.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters