Recent contacts are grouped at the top of the list, you can make snapshots of your screen

Dec 1, 2011 12:57 GMT  ·  By

There's a new version of Yahoo Messenger out there and it's not just a minor update. Yahoo Messenger 11.5 adds several new features, some of which have been heavily requested for a lot of time.

Tabbed conversations is the biggest new thing in Yahoo Messenger 11.5. Finally, talking to several people at once won't mean having to juggle between several windows, not knowing who to respond to.

Recent Contacts on top of the list

Another interesting new feature is the "Recent Contacts" group which now shows up on top of your friends list and displays the people you've talked to most recently and most often. This comes in very handy if you've got tens or even hundreds of contacts.

As Yahoo notes, the latest version of Yahoo Messenger is dedicated almost exclusively at things users have been asking for. Why this isn't true for most new versions isn't clear.

Tabbed conversations

One feature that a lot of people have been asking for, not the least of which because they've been seeing it in countless other IM clients, is conversation tabs.

You'll only have one window for all of your chats, to make it easy to switch between conversations. Pidgin, one of the most multiple-protocol IM clients out there has had tabbed conversations for years.

Ignore multiple friend requests

Yahoo is also boasting about improved spam management in the latest Yahoo Messenger, the big addition is being able to ignore multiple friend invites at a time, if spammers suddenly target you in droves.

Archive grouped by friends not date

Yahoo Messenger 11.5 also includes a better way of looking up past conversations. The archive now groups conversations by friends rather than by date which makes more sense since you usually know who you talked to but not when.

All emoticons now listed, screen capture and Romanian translation

Yahoo Messenger has always supported more emoticons that it listed, but now all emoticons are available. The ones you use the most will show up by default.

One useful feature in the latest update is the ability to snap an image of your desktop screen to share with friends, helpful when you're troubleshooting or want to boast about something.

Finally, Yahoo Messenger 11.5 is available in Romanian as well, useful since the IM is still very popular in the country.

Yahoo Messenger is available for download here.

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Tabbed conversations in Yahoo Messenger 11.5
Recent Contacts in Yahoo Messenger 11.5
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