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Support for versions 6.0 – 7.5 ends September 30th

September 11, 2009 on 4:15 am | In News | 24 Comments

A couple of months ago, we told you that we would be retiring Yahoo! Messenger versions 6.0 through 7.5 this Fall. The date for retirement has been set for September 30, 2009.

This means that if you are currently using a version of Yahoo! Messenger that is below 8.0, you will no longer be able to sign in and use it after September 30.

If you are using a version that is set to retire, you have several options for continuing to use Yahoo! Messenger:

Option 1: Download the latest version for Windows
You can use Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 which offers enhanced security as well as better protection from spam (info | video demo | download). It was even voted the best overall client in the 2009 About.com IM Awards. 9.0 also includes more advanced features like voice calling, free mobile text messaging (SMS), as well as the ability to IM with friends that use Windows Live™ Messenger.

Option 2: Use Yahoo! Messenger for the Web
If you can’t use the latest version mentioned above, you can always sign in to Yahoo! Messenger for the Web from any web browser. No extra download or installation is required. With our web version, you can send IM’s as well as SMS text messages to your friend’s mobile phones for free. Our web version also includes anywhere archiving, allowing you to access your message history from any computer or browser. Try it now at http://webmessenger.yahoo.com.

Option 3: Use the built-in IM feature in Yahoo! Mail
Both versions of Yahoo! Mail offer a built-in feature that lets you send and receive IMs. If you’re using the all-new Yahoo! Mail, just click the status menu next to your name in the upper header and change your status to “Available”. This will sign you into Yahoo! Messenger (you also have the option of staying invisible). IM conversations occur in separate tabs within your Mail page.

In Yahoo! Mail Classic, you’ll see a module on the left hand side of the page labeled “Chat & Mobile Text”. Click on the status menu in that module to change to “Available” (or Invisible). IM conversations will show up in a small box in the lower right corner of your Yahoo! Mail Classic page (but it won’t interfere with your Mail messages or using Mail).

As an alternative, there are also solutions available for your mobile phone. We recently launched Yahoo! Messenger for the iPhone and additionals versions are available for other mobile devices.

And remember, no matter what version you migrate to, your contact list always goes with you. As September 30th draws closer, we’ll remind you again here on the blog.

Thanks,

Sarah Bacon
Product Manager

24 Comments »

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  1. I thought yahoo messenger wasn’t a resource hog. yahoo instant messenger 9 works great with minimum settings.
    with YIM 10, its a different ball game.
    sounds like selective business practice to me.

    Comment by B — September 11, 2009 #

  2. Why? why you guys wanna do such a thing? nothing really wrong with those versions.

    of course they old but some people still using windows 98 and yahoo 6.0 works great

    Comment by yolarrydabomb — September 11, 2009 #

  3. [...] still intend to use Yahoo for your instant messaging. On the Yahoo Messenger Blog, the company highlights three options: 1. Download the latest version for Windows 2. Use Yahoo messenger for the Web 3. [...]

    Pingback by Yahoo Will No Longer Support Old Versions of Messenger - News: Everything-e — September 11, 2009 #

  4. Hey! I have been using web messenger. When I tried to use it today, it said to download the latest Adobe Flashplayer, so I did. I tried again, but it still won’t let me IM! It says I need to download the latest Adobe Flashplayer!!! Does it just need a few hours to realize I have it or something?

    Comment by Lucy — September 11, 2009 #

  5. @Lucy

    Are you on Windows Vista? Are you using Internet Explorer or another browser?

    Comment by SGFC — September 11, 2009 #

  6. When will support for thousands of chat room porn bots end? If Yahoo doesnt stop it, congress will.

    Comment by Frank2 — September 11, 2009 #

  7. And yet Yahoo STILL insists on being able to reach into your computer and remotely update Yahoo Mess. Folks, this is DANGEROUS. Running unknown, untested and unchecked programs is foolish. Just wait until one of these auto updating patches is hacked and a worm or virus or Trojan gets installed on millions of computers around the world overnight. The infections will make Conficker look like the sniffles.

    Comment by CA — September 11, 2009 #

  8. [...] the Yahoo Messenger blog, Sarah Bacon ( product manager), mentions following three options 1. Download the latest version of Yahoo Messenger ( version 9)  for [...]

    Pingback by Are You Using Yahoo Messenger version 6.0 – 7.5? (Upgrade to latest version now) | Technofriends — September 12, 2009 #

  9. [...] Support for versions 6.0 – 7.5 ends September 30th – Using an old version of Yahoo Messenger? You won’t be able to after that [...]

    Pingback by Linkpost | 9.12.2009 - L&C Tech Talk — September 12, 2009 #

  10. Yahoo is retiring them because of sharing IM with msn

    Sadly yahoo Will retire all versions then 8 & 9 sooner or later so better stay away off all versions

    versions 6,7 are the best

    Comment by Sam — September 12, 2009 #

  11. [...] the Yahoo Messenger Blog, the company highlights three options: 1. Download the latest version for [...]

    Pingback by Yahoo Will No Longer Support Old Versions of Messenger | The Free Site Hosting | Reviews & Top Hosts — September 12, 2009 #

  12. You should do an optional adding the new features, such as video call. Rather than install it.
    That way it would keep everybody happy.
    Personally not everyone has 300kbps internet connection. Some people use dial up.
    Yahoo messenger 8 is stable, yahoo messenger 9 is not too bad

    Comment by B — September 12, 2009 #

  13. How nice… if I may say so. You take out older versions (still good) of Yahoo Messenger but don’t care about Linux users who rely on Pidgin or something else to use your service.

    If you guys won’t make a Yahoo Messenger client for Linux, for cryin’ out loud, let the open source developers make their own, don’t make their life harder. Right now I can only send files through Pidgin, but I cannot receive them because of some Yahoo protocol restriction.

    Yahoo is already involved in the open source development. Why are you kicking the others out of your way? I know you would like to have your own Linux client so you can pump your ads in it and I don’t disaprove as long as you’re offering the service for free, but in the meantime let the others create a stable and working environment so people can interact, not struggle between e-mail and Skype for file sharing. I couldn’t see my nephew’s first-day school outfit because you guys are boneheads living in the dark ages, meddling with other people’s hard work.

    I’m a simple messenger user but I’m simply tired with your lack of common sense regarding online communication. I even sent feedback about Yahoo Mail, Messenger and the online (flash) messenger and noone bothered to reply with a simple “Hey, thanks, we might consider that.”

    Live and let live!

    Comment by kneekoo — September 14, 2009 #

  14. my yahoo is not working i don’t know why

    Comment by behzad — September 14, 2009 #

  15. [...] will retire older versions of Yahoo Messenger on September 30. If you are using any version lower than 8.0, it will no longer [...]

    Pingback by Yahoo Retiring Older Versions of Messenger by Sept. 30 | DUOWAN — September 15, 2009 #

  16. when are the chat rooms going to be fixed,someone has been using a room filler program to lock the rooms so nobody else can get in i been try to get in my favorite room i been hanging in for 8 years Depression Support:3,this is getting out of hand,i just mite go over to paltalk,fix yahoo chat rooms please

    Comment by chatuser — September 15, 2009 #

  17. I have no idea why they just don’t close down Yahoo Chat. The service is already overrun by bots and people that get in there only end up being spammed – which also happened to me. Clearing the chat service seems hopeless right now and considering how many hick-ups we see in Yahoo’s services the company must be experiencing heavy issues.

    If someone in Yahoo reads this blog, push this idea inside the company: release as much software as you afford as open source and work with the community to close bugs, expand to Linux, complete services migration, finish the face-lift of Yahoo Mail Classic and while doing this, keep in mind internationalization of the products as well. The open source world has many positive examples of team work creating successful projects so Yahoo should only open the eyes and learn a few tricks.

    Comment by kneekoo — September 15, 2009 #

  18. The problem I see with open source is that the bots/porn could be worse. With Yahoo keeping it proprietary as it is…there are still tons of spam making it through. Open source will open it up for potentially more. In that case, Yahoo should make a unix version at least.
    As for chat, I think Yahoo should implement admins like MSN did (or does still, I have not been in msn chat for years). Yahoo can easily reach out to the user community and get volunteers for that.

    Comment by John — September 16, 2009 #

  19. John, you are probably not familiar with the open source software. Linux has SpamAssassin (just one example) as a software package to filter out spam mail on the servers.

    There are many anti-spam solutions that really work and they could be adapted for any text-based service. It’s the same thing with the laws – they are public but you can still go to jail if you break them. It’s not a matter of how the software is created or licensed but who controls it.

    I only said Yahoo should open up to the community and work together for better services. It would be by far cheaper to offer the good coders premium mail services, web space, domains and such, than stress about getting new employees to get the job done once and for all. It’s just the Yahoo leadership needs an open mind on this. The solutions are out there, waiting.

    Comment by kneekoo — September 17, 2009 #

  20. I have been getting a damn spammy IM all month long every time I log on saying to update my yahoo messenger. I tried blocking, removing this pest im’er and over and it keeps coming back.
    I come on here looking for a way to block it permanently only to find you guys are just gonna wipe out all the old versions. WTF?

    I use trillian so I can be logged into multiple IM services at once without my computer slowing to a damn crawl having three IM programs open at once. I don’t use the actual messenger itself. Now you’re saying I won’t even be able to use it through trillian? I don’t need whatever damn bells and whistles you guys wanna slap on your new versions, just a way to stay in contact with those people I know that are crazy enough to only use your service.

    What kind of messed up way is this to run this whole thing?
    Well now I know a way to block that spammy IM, if you guys are going to try forcing my hand I’m just gonna not use yahoo anymore.

    Comment by Tanya — September 18, 2009 #

  21. There is an update for Trillian 3.1 on the Trillian site that uses the newer protocols, though that doesn’t fix the root problem which is how unacceptable the newer versions of the “official” Yahoo client are….

    Comment by CA — September 18, 2009 #

  22. Interesting, when Yahoo! started sending retirement messages, they said support ended mid-August.

    Not only was version 7 safe and stable, it was not the bloated resource hog v 9 seems to be.

    Best of all perhaps, the install left dozens of Ypager references in the WinXP registry, even though v 9 doesn’t seem to refer to it.

    Rant over (steps off soapbox).

    Comment by another disappointed user — September 24, 2009 #

  23. really awesome, badly need it!

    Comment by download — April 19, 2011 #

  24. There is a message that I like YAHOO.

    Comment by Buy MBT — June 20, 2011 #

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