Feb 16, 2001 10:16 AM
3290 Views
Ever since Yahoo came up with Yahoo Pager, which one of the earlier messaging
clients after ICQ, I have been a happy and a contented customer of the same. With
more updates and technical innovations, Pager got better and more powerful and
was rechristened Messenger. Microsoft followed suit with it's own MSN messenger
which looks like an imitation of Yahoo messenger but lacks Yahoo's features
nevertheless.
A messaging client enables a user to send and receive instantaneous online messages
from other users all across the world. Yahoo Messenger does precisely that and
much more.
Installation is relatively simple and Messenger files do not hog your HDD space.
You'll be prompted to enter your login and password, failing which you can opt for a
new account in Yahoo. A yahoo mail account holder can also avail of Messenger's
facilities by using his email ID and password.
The interface is simple, cute and functional. The main toolbar has 4 buttons;
Messages, Chat, Call and Add. Right under the toolbar is a small window for
viewing the status of your ''buddies''. A buddy is a smiley which indicates whether a
user (whom you've added is online or not) The moment you perceive one of your
buddies online you can double click on his to start a message/voice window which
allows you to chat or speak to him in real-time. You can send messages in different
fonts and colors. There's also a color blending function which makes the text look
rather spectacular. Right under the contents window is the status tab. Click on this
and you can provide your own customized message for other users when they see
you online on their messengers. In case a user is off-line, you can send him/her an
off-line messages which pops up the moment he/she logs in. This is a nifty feature
which save a lot of time. In MSN you're unable to do this. You can also configure
the information tabs right below the status tab and Messenger can retrieve
customized information on General news, Stock reports, Sports news, Entertainment
etc. So when you click on one of there Tabs, the content window shows you the
relevant headlines on those topic. Click on the headlines (appearing as links) takes
you to the whole story by invoking your default browser.
You could also change the appearance and color schemes of Messenger by
following the instructions given on the Messenger web site. This makes life a tad bit
exciting.
There's a chat function which comes in very handy when you're indulging in the fine
art of doing nothing. Click on the chat button and you can enter one of Yahoo's
numerous rooms for an online chat session (just like IRC) without the need to invoke
additional chat clients or browsers supporting Java chat sessions. This feature comes
in extremely handy when you're downloading something as it doesn't hog the
bandwidth. MSN lacks this feature as well.
The call function has been a saving grace for me. You can make free calls to the US
and believe me the clarity is exceptional, provided you have a 33.6K modem or
higher. I would recommend a 56K Flex modem for overseas calls; there is no time
lag, rendering the need for calling people in the US and Canada through ISD
useless.
You can configure Yahoo to start whenever you switch on the computer and it
closes down when you want it to close down (supposing you don't want to
send/recieve messages as you're busy finding that info your Boss asked you to).
MSN is a hell lot adamant. It starts off on it's own, irrespective of the users' desires
and even when you click the close button it resides in the taskbar (still online) unless
you right click it to shut it down. This really infuriates me as I firmly believe that being
a consumer, I should be able to exercise my own choice.
What Yahoo lacks is the PC-mobile device messaging facility. Once they add that
Messenger would be perfect. In any case I've tried the same with MSN but have
never managed to get it to work.
Yahoo also has a high market penetration, chances are you'll be able to keep in
touch with far flung friends with Yahoo. I wish I could say the same for MSN
messenger
