However this limitation can be easily by-passed using a simple hack, well it cannot be called a hack even. All you have to do is un-install the current Local Version of Yahoo Messenger from your system and download the US version of Yahoo! Messenger. When you visit the Yahoo Messenger’s site, it automatically selects the local version to your country by scanning your IP address.

To bypass it you have to directly download the US version from Yahoo Server. We have provided the Direct Download link below. The step-by-step instructions for windows users are as follows:

1. Goto Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs.
2. Select the Yahoo Messenger from the list.
3. Click on Un-Install button.
4. Goto My Computer -> C: (or the drive in which windows is installed) - >Program Files.
5. Delete the Yahoo Folder if it still exist.
6. Now download the US version by the links provided below.
7. Install the downloaded file.
8. Run the newly installed Yahoo Messenger.
9. If you are still unable to see the Voice option, you must restart the system and then login again.
10. Enjoy.

Please Note: Un-installing Yahoo! Messenger will delete all your chat history. Also the local rooms and audibles of your country won’t be accessible in the US Version.

If it still not works for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users, you may also have to delete the following paths before installing the US version.

C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Local\Yahoo

C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\LocalLow\Yahoo

C:\Users\<User Name>\AppData\Roaming\Yahoo

Download Link for US Version of Yahoo Messenger

You can directly download 10.0.0.1102 US version by clicking here, or you may get the latest version from FileHippo.

This release is stable and fully compatible with Windows 7 and also includes a bunch of security fixes. You can download the final version directly from the official Yahoo Messenger site by using their installer but the problem with it is it does not support resuming. The people with slower connection or limited bandwidth can opt for the country-wise direct download links for Windows from the Yahoo servers only.

US English: ymsgr1000_1102_us.exe

America
Argentina: ymsgr1000_1102_ar.exe
Brazil: ymsgr1000_1102_br.exe
Chile: ymsgr1000_1102_cl.exe
Columbia: ymsgr1000_1102_co.exe
Mexico: ymsgr1000_1102_mx.exe
Peru: ymsgr1000_1102_pe.exe
Venezuela: ymsgr1000_1102_ve.exe
Yahoo! Telemundo (Latin America Spanish): ymsgr1000_1102_e1.exe

Europe
France: ymsgr1000_1102_fr.exe
Germany: ymsgr1000_1102_de.exe
Italy: ymsgr1000_1102_it.exe
Spain: ymsgr1000_1102_es.exe
UK & Ireland: ymsgr1000_1102_uk.exe

Oceanic
Australia & New Zealand: ymsgr1000_1102_au.exe

Asia

India (English): ymsgr1000_1102_in.exe
Indonesia: ymsgr1000_1102_id.exe
Hong Kong (Chinese): ymsgr1000_1102_hk.exe
Korea: ymsgr1000_1102_kr.exe
Malaysia: ymsgr1000_1102_my.exe
Philippines: ymsgr1000_1102_ph.exe
Singapore: ymsgr1000_1102_sg.exe
Taiwan (Traditional Chinese): ymsgr1000_1102_tw.exe
Thailand: ymsgr1000_1102_th.exe
Vietnam: ymsgr1000_1102_vn.exe

Yahoo Messenger Beta 10 has the same look and feel as before though some of the icons have been revamped. The main focus is given on the Video Quality and social networking capability. A separate tab has been provided for Y! Updates which sync your updates from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and more.

Here is a list of new features in this ‘refurbished version’:

• Enhanced video calling – Now supports Full Screen
• Keep up with what your friends are doing – Social Updates
• Improved language support
• Use the built-in media player to watch web videos and view photos with friends.

The messenger just worked fine though being in Beta and the new updates tab looks useful, but people need to get their activities in sync from different networks to their Yahoo Profiles so that you can view their updates.

Download:

You can download the BETA version for windows from here or directly download full EXE here. Mac Version is also available and can be downloaded here.

Prism treats every window as a separate browser. This can be used for running many Google Talk messengers with different accounts at once. If you have multiple Google Accounts and want to run all of them in messenger, all you have to do is create multiple shortcut in Mozilla Prism.

To run multiple Gtalk Messengers at once, follow and repeat the below steps:

1. Download & Install Mozilla Prism if you haven’t already done so.
2. Run Prism, a window will open. Paste this link ( http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/popout ) in the URL field.
3. Give it a name as “Google Talk – Account 1”.
4. Configure other options as per your need as where do you want to place its shortcuts. Prism creates a shortcut for every app you create. Make sure you place atleast create one shortcut.
5. Run the shortcut you just created.
6. Re-size the window to look like a messenger by using Drag button in the bottom right of the window.
7. Repeat steps again if necessary from Step 2.

This works with Google Accounts as well as with Google Apps accounts. This method will help people run multiple copies of Gtalk Messenger at once and simultaneously also supporting invisibility.

Google also have a beta version which is based on Adobe Flash and is having a sky of errors. Using the Google Talk Labs Edition gets impossible at times and most users un-install it. Google seems to be slow at desktop development of Gtalk. So we came up with the following solution for invisibility in Google Talk.

In order to use invisibility at desktop, here is a short tutorial which lets you run the online version of Gtalk on your desktop.

First step is to download Prism, a product in development by Mozilla Group which integrates web applications with the desktop, allowing web applications to be launched from the desktop and configured independently of the default web browser.

Note: This trick will only work on all Windows OS as currently Prism runs only on it.

Second step is to run the prism and configure and create a Prism app (basically a Prism shortcut) and specify the Google Talk Gadget URL in it.

The Step by Step Guide:

1. Download Mozilla Prism.
2. Install the Prism.
3. Run Prism, a window will open. Paste this link ( http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/popout ) in the URL field.
4. Give it a name as “Google Talk Gadget”.
5. Configure other options as per your need as where do you want to place its shortcuts. Prism creates a shortcut for every app you create. Make sure you place atleast create one shortcut.
6. Run the shortcut you just created.
7. Re-size the window to look like a messenger by using Drag button in the bottom right of the window.

I found this as an effective way to remain offline while staying at your desktop and without launching your heavy browser. Though you get invisibility in Gtalk at your desktop but there is still a flaw in this trick. It doesn’t notify you when a contact comes online or goes offline. Also when someone sends a message, the window in Taskbar never blinks and so you have to keep a check at this window in order to know if you have got any message. So basically you get no notifications by this method. If you have any better way than this, do drop a comment below.