Yahoo debuts new beta Messenger IM app for Mac OS X

Yahoo on Thursday released a new beta version of Yahoo! Messenger, its instant message client for Mac OS X users. The new release features an entirely new interface and new capabilities, including webcam support.

In addition to Universal Binary support for both Intel and PowerPC-based Macs, Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 beta 1 features support for Yahoo! Avatars and Display Images, can be configured with custom stealth settings, custom status messages, animated sign-in and sign-out and more.

Webcam support works across Mac OS X and Windows, according to Yahoo. The software shows you a new instant message indicator in the Dock, and allows you to organize your contact list into groups. Unicode is supported, for the extended characters needed for foreign languages. You can also drag and drop files into the IM window to share with other users.

Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 beta 1 also features new sound effects and visual notifications with support for Growl, a global notification system. The new release also supports alerts for Yahoo! Calendar, Mail and Personals.

What’s more, Yahoo! Messenger will support instant messaging with users who utilize Windows Live (MSN) Messenger, according to the developers.

Yahoo! Messenger for Mac 3.0 beta 1 is available as a free download; system requirements call for Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later.