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A while back, Yahoo announced it would be retiring old versions of Yahoo Messenger - versions 6.0 through 7.5. They have now set a date for it at the end of the month - September, 30.

Yahoo Messenger users who are using anything older than 8.0 will no longer be able to sign in and use the service. Obviously, that means it's time to upgrade, if you still intend to use Yahoo for your instant messaging.

On the Yahoo Messenger Blog, the company highlights three options:

1. Download the latest version for Windows

2. Use Yahoo messenger for the Web

3. Use the built-in IM feature in Yahoo Mail.

Now, when Yahoo says download the latest version for Windows, they're talking about version 9.0, which does include increased security, spam protection, voice calling, free text messaging, and the ability to IM people using Windows Live Messenger.

However, a few weeks ago, Yahoo made a string of announcements, including one for Yahoo Messenger Version 10, which is actually now available in beta. New features for this one include video calling, friend updates from Yahoo, Flickr, Twitter, and others through a new updates view, and improved language support.

So if you're a Yahoo Messenger fan, you may just want to go straight to version 10. I don't know why they didn't mention it in the blog post, but it definitely has more features. Being in Beta, perhaps it is still a bit buggy.

If you do use version 10, Yahoo offers some tips for making video calls here.