The development team behind the very popular instant messaging client Yahoo! Messenger wants everybody to enjoy the functionality provided by Yahoo! Messenger 9, including the users that decided to stick with YM8 and not upgrade. Consequently users that have Yahoo! Messenger 8 installed on their machine will receive a notification inviting them to upgrade to version 9 of the IM client.

“In the coming weeks, our Yahoo! Messenger 8.x and 9.0 Beta users (Windows) will see a notice when they’re signed in about upgrading to the latest version of Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 (9.0.0.2152). When you see the Yahoo! Messenger Update window, click the Update Now button to begin installation. It only takes a couple of minutes and you will not need to restart your computer after it’s complete,” explains Product Manager, Sarah Bacon.

If you already have Yahoo! Messenger 9 installed on your machine, you can check to see precisely what version of the software you have, and upgrade if that version is prior to 9.0.0.2152. To check the software version go to Help -> About Yahoo! Messenger. Assuming you do not have version 9.0.0.2152, you can download it directly from Yahoo! or you can press the “Check for Updates” button.

As an YM8 user you do not necessarily have to upgrade, you can always turn down Yahoo!'s offer, but before you do so think of the functionality you will be missing out on. Sarah Bacon again: “Why upgrade? 9.0 offers some new features that are not available in earlier versions such as enhanced security and anti-spam tools, inline media players for photos and video, new “detailed” contact list option with larger display images, support for Pingbox, many new skins, and more.”

Still not convinced? Check out this demo video and see if that works for you.
If you would like to get Yahoo! Messenger, a download location is available here.