What do you do when you have instant messaging buddies...but none of them are on AIM? Well, for most people, that means that they are on Yahoo! and that is where we look today.
Yahoo! Messenger for Mac is one of the most beautiful messaging solutions for the platform today. Clearly modeled after iChat, the client feels like it could very easily be one of the native applications shipped with a new Mac compared to others offering such glaring differences from the Mac interface.
Most Likely to Lead the AV Club
Chatting was a pleasant experience, with many of the same features as iChat. Noted features include audio and video chat, which worked nicely with a pleasant FPS rate and solid audio quality in my test chats. The downside, however, was a lack of friends on Yahoo! to use these features with.
Final Word
Statistics from Nielsen/Netratings indicate AIM is the most widely used IM client, with 53 million users worldwide in 2007. These statistics are a shame, however, considering both the beauty and functionality of Yahoo! on the Mac platform.
Overall, Yahoo Messenger is an amazing messaging solution for the Mac, especially with its new visual design perfectly fitting with the Mac interface. For the user that needs to keep in touch with all of his contacts and doesn’t mind using another chat client, Yahoo! Messenger is definitely a knock-out.
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Agree with our verdict? Share your thoughts on Yahoo! Messenger for Mac on the all-new IM Forum. (Membership is free, but required to post.)
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Zachary Knight is a self-professed Mac addict and Public Relations/Marketing major from Gulfport, Miss. In 2008, Knight became an intern and associate writer for http://im.about.com.
