Instant messaging is a great way to keep in touch with your friends and family as it make it possible to hold voice, text and video calls completely free of charge. Yahoo! Messenger Beta can be used to chat with your contacts all over the world, making free PC-to-PC calls and cheap PC-to-phone calls.

The new version of the IM client can also be used to conduct chats with your Facebook friends - your existing Facebook conversation will be synchronised across to the client as well. You can also update your Facebook status and post comments on other people's accounts.

As well as all of the features you would expect from an instant messaging application, Yahoo! Messenger Beta also allows for social gaming. Facebook users will be familiar with the likes of Mafia Wars and Fish Ville, and now you have the opportunity to challenge you friends to a game from within your IM client.

Full screen video is available and the built-in media player can be used to watch online videos that may be shared in chats. A range of avatars, skins and audible (sound schemes) are available to enable you to completely customise the program to your liking.

This is the final release version of Yahoo Messenger 11 after many months of beta testing.