Taking Web Messenger out of the browser (Mac)

Yahoo! Messenger for the Web is really handy when you’re on the road or can’t download and install the full version of Messenger. But there are a couple of things that may prevent it from becoming your everyday version of Yahoo! Messenger. One is that Yahoo! Messenger for the Web runs in a full browser window which makes it easy to close accidentally. The other is that while it does play a sound when a new IM comes in, there is no “in your face” pop-up reminders for a new message like on the full version of Messenger.

Recently one of our engineers that worked on Yahoo! Messenger for the Web, Jeremy Johnstone, decided to try an experiment on his Mac that would alleviate some of these issues with the product. Using a free program for Mac OSX Leopard called Fluid, he developed a site-specific browser application for Yahoo! Messenger for the Web. By customizing the Fluid application with some code, he was able to create a desktop version of Yahoo! Messenger for the Web on his Mac that includes:

• A full window interface but without the usual browser clutter
• Growl notifications for IMs received when the application isn’t in focus
• Dock badge updates with the count of unread IMs

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