You'll also need to provide your birthday, since Yahoo Messenger isn't available to anyone age 12 or under. You'll be asked for your name, gender, country, ZIP code and e-mail address. If you don't already have a Yahoo account, sign up for a Yahoo ID.Install the software on your computer, following specific directions for your operating system (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac or Unix).

Go to Yahoo Messenger, and click on 'download now' to download the Yahoo Messenger software.Next, let's see how easy it's to get started with Yahoo Messenger. The number of IM users worldwide was estimated at 461 million in 2007 and is expected to reach 711 million by 2011, according to the Radicati Group, a market research firm specializing in messaging and collaboration technologies.

This communications tool also works for business colleagues checking details with sales reps on the road, friends trying to find a time to talk at length and mobile phone users who need to check in with the office or contact each other. Teens aren't the only group found IM handy. Many teens use IM daily to talk to five or six friends at a time while simultaneously listening to music, doing homework and talking on their cell phone. When e-mail contact isn't fast or convenient enough, Internet users turn to IM. For more information about instant messaging, check out How Instant Messaging Works. Small, separate IM windows on the screen allow you to carry on conversations with several different people at a time. That person reads the message and types back a response. Within a few seconds, the message appears in an IM window on the recipient's computer screen. You type in a message, which then travels in digital form over the Internet from your computer through the provider's server to the other person's computer. What exactly is it? Instant messaging allows you to carry on a conversation with someone else via your personal computer.

You can, for example, access contacts and messages anywhere from any Web browser, communicate in any of 40 languages and share photos and large-file Web video.īefore we delve further into Yahoo Messenger, let's take a quick look at instant messaging. Once you download Yahoo Messenger software and complete the Yahoo Messenger sign in, you'll find the service also does a lot more.

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