Makeover a friend’s Avatar

First there was Trading Spaces, then Extreme Home Makeover… Now there’s Avatars Makeover, a new plug-in for Yahoo! Messenger for Windows (8.1; U.S. version). I’ve been having a lot of mischievous fun with it this past week.

The plug-in lets you makeover a friend’s Avatar and then send them your creation for consideration. Your friend can accept the makeover and apply the changes to their Avatar, or they can forego your fashion faux pas.

Even more fun is creating an Avatar for a friend that doesn’t have one yet. You get to start from scratch, choosing their gender, their hair, outfit, extras and more. My buddy John didn’t accept my gender-bending “RuPaul” inspired Avatar that I created for him, but he got a good laugh out of it. (You can change the gender of a friend’s Avatar even if they already have one).

Short on time? Just hit the “Makeover Magic” wand and let the plug-in create a wild new look. Once you’ve finished the makeover, click the “Send Avatar” button to start an IM to your friend that includes a link for previewing their madeover Avatar.

The Avatars Makeover plug-in is really easy to use and it’s a fun way to surprise a friend. Make changes by hovering on Avatar elements in the initial screen, or click on a category like “Change Apparel” to browse through many options. There’s even a search box so you can quickly find specific apparel or accessories (like a search on “tank” to find tank tops). Want your friend’s Avatar to be in a better mood? Click the smiley in the upper left to change it. And if you make a mistake or change your mind, handy Undo/Redo/Reset controls will get you going again.

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