The end of Yahoo Messenger

[Malformed]

Learn more:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-DDhkx...KLXKywM-?p=143

[Oreo]

Perhaps you could expand more here rather than leaving a random link to a blog?

[Jeff]

Here's the blog entry in entirety:

June a likely end for Yahoo Messenger 5+
Yahoo messenger team have decided the end of 5.6 is coming. I suspect the final switch off for the best Yahoo Messenger build (1358) Yahoo have ever built will be put to rest in June. Yahoo Messenger 6 was introduced in June last year. That will be Yahoo Messenger 6's first birthday.

I can't think of a better time to kill 5.6 from Yahoo's point of view. Though, from the point of view if the consumer, Yahoo Messenger 6 is the worst product Yahoo has come up with. Its a bloated software with many features, unneeded for IM. Entertainment feaures i'll call them. Perfect for luring in the teen market, to download and share Yahoo's popular IM client.

A protocol update for Yahoo Messenger network is also expected, if Yahoo's past is anything to go by. Yahoo Messenger forced upgrades usually run along side a new protocol version for IM. The new protocol, if one is to be released will need to focus heavily on security, or it will be seen by many as a red herring update.

Yahoo Messenger for a while now has been subject to privacy woes with its protocol 12. Hackers were able to determine weather a victim was using invisible/stealth settings on Yahoo Messenger by exploiting vulnerabilities in IMV and P2P, part of the overall scheme of 5+, rather than 6+. The new protocol, likely to be named 13, will be Yahoo Messenger 6 dedicated, and Yahoo is likely to ramp up its security at the same time. Thats only if Yahoo are thinking what the rest of us in the security community are thinking. It could be a new protocol release has no relation to security whatso-ever, which would also signal to hackers that Yahoo are out of touch with consumers and security.

We'll need to wait and see for June. At the moment, from late Friday.. all users on Yahoo Messenger 5.6 build 1358 are being notified that you must undertake a forced upgrade to continue to use Yahoo's IM network, or be faced with non-supportive servers for the popular and lite 5+ series.

Thanks, n3td3v

The reality is that this is NOT the end of Yahoo! Messenger. What n3td3v is speculating is that Yahoo is going to kill support for the older Yahoo! Messenger 5.6, possibly with a protocol change that will force people to upgrade to version 6.

[neo_ny_23]

I just hope they put an end to booting and numerous crappy bots running in the chat rooms. The day they successfully stop that, only then I will agree that Yahoo! Messenger rules.

Yeah they can do many things to stop various bots running and upto certain extent in stopping booting if they enable each user to enter a random verification code while signing in (as they allow us to enter while creating a Yahoo ID) and also while joining any room. Yes it will be annoying for certain users who like to jump from one room to another, but its worth it.

That might be one of the easiest way to stop booting or stopping bots joining the rooms.

[Oreo]

It don't think there is a big deal that they are getting rid of 5.x they were planning on that for a while and it happens a lot when newer versions are out...

[-=[bAbY_meX]=-]

I disagree with that blog entry. Yahoo! Messenger may have a little trouble with its security, but the client itself, I can say, is totally efficient--with the entertainment and other features and all. Maybe they just have to focus more on security since I have read numerous hack reports and found equally numerous bots that are for use in YM. By the time they do that, I'd really love YM even more.