Yahoo IM (YIM), the world’s second most popular instant-messaging platform, has launched a new version that will allow users to send and receive instant messages via their Web browser, and does not force them to install software any longer (similar to how GTalk is integrated into Gmail).
Yahoo is seeking out the tens of millions of users who use the Web from Internet cafes and are unable to install their popular IM client. In addition, business professionals and office workers whose companies do not allow software installation will now be able to access YIM.
“Too many people have been restricted from benefiting from this type of communication,” Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo’s senior vice president in charge of communications, said in an interview.
In addition to greater accessibility, why should YIM users care about this new Web browser platform? One reason is an archive feature that will allow you to search through all of your past IM conversations with any contact (*cough* GTalk *cough*). Another feature is the ability to manage a dozen or more conversations in a single IM chat window.
This new Web-based IM service will start in Brazil, India, Malaysia, Philippines, the United States and Vietnam, will additional countries getting access later this year. Yahoo has 88.5 million IM users worldwide, second only to MSN/Windows Live Messenger. AOL’s AIM is the most popular instant-messaging client in the United States.
I for one have never used Yahoo IM, but it certainly sounds like a nice upgrade for die hard YIMers.