A preview of Yahoo Messenger for Vista is due to be released on Thursday. Since it’s just a preview, many of the features found in recent versions of Yahoo Messenger — such as voice, Webcam, and chat rooms — have not been added yet. These features will be put in later.

The main difference in this preview is the new interface, which allows you to organize conversations into tabs or manipulate the tabs into new windows. The team seems to have done a good job on this, judging from the screenshot.

Some of the new features include:

  • Keep favorite contacts by dragging them into the Windows Sidebar
  • Send enhanced emoticons
  • Change the color of the various windows
  • Adjust display size of contacts
  • Arrange your contact list into multiple columns

Josh Jacobson, senior product manager of Yahoo Messenger for Vista, said in a CNET News.com Blog, “We know it’s been a long wait for Yahoo Messenger for Vista, and we can’t thank you enough for your patience.”

Did I mention that I’ve just formatted my new laptop to Windows XP? My laptop can actually hibernate within 15 seconds now, not the 1-3 minutes it took under Vista. Maybe they should tailored the new Yahoo Messenger for Windows XP instead.