The new instant messenger from Yahoo!

Yahoo! Messenger 11 allows you to chat to your Yahoo! and Facebook friends via instant messaging.

To bring Yahoo! Messenger up to date, Facebook chat has been integrated into the latest version, along with social games like Mafia Wars. You can now use video chat in full-screen mode, and the ‘Always On’ feature means you’ll stay connected whether on mobile, at home or at work.

You can of course update your Facebook status from Yahoo! Messenger, and also on Yahoo! What hasn’t changed from the previous version is the amount of bloat in the app. Some people may appreciate the shared videos, social games (as shown in the video here), radio stations, emoticons, search bar and so on. However, all this stuff adds a lot of weight to the Yahoo! Messenger, and it feels unsophisticated today. The video call quality in Yahoo! Messenger is pretty good, however, and in fact if it stuck to being a chat app, we would recommend it more highly!

The amplification of social aspects in Yahoo! Messenger isn’t a revolution. If you love all the bells and whistles, you’ll love this app, but many people will find it annoying and intrusive.

Tabbed IMsImproved Spam ManagementNew Social GamesEasy Access to Recent ContactsSmart Archiving Snap and ShareQuick Access to All Emoticons Now in Romanian too

Changes

• Tabbed IMsImproved Spam ManagementNew Social GamesEasy Access to Recent ContactsSmart Archiving Snap and ShareQuick Access to All Emoticons Now in Romanian too