there may be a beta version, with several new smileys, but.... beta means bugs! not better. Do not expect any kind of support or fixes on a beta   

there currently is a beta of yahoo messenger.

the good......... this allows many to get around the firewalls at school and work and access chat, it has a larger screen than java chat . it has sound support and custom emotes . it has voice chat and supports all 65 of the new smileys. has text blends, now with webcams

the bad......... there is still  an error somewhere ~ that leaves messenger chat users susceptible to a code errors......also known as the 'boot. latest version is available is promoted as "less booting" ugh
note the ad at the top......and when you open emotes and have voice open, your chat field is small. pop pms can be annoying if you forget to set to friends only. cant pause screen. some commands don't work.....

important to note.... some win 95 users are not able to load the newest builds of messenger... and since support for win 95 ended on jan1....  the options are few. use browser chat,  and use java messenger to  pm.... YAHELITE has a specific fix that allows win 95 users to still chat with ease.

yahelite 

YChat

cheeta

yahay

i understand there is an integration with msn messenger coming when hell freezes over....... been hearing this for 2 years now... actually, what i read in the e-zines is that aol was court ordered to  begin developing a client that  would allow all messengers to interact ( kinda like an official trillian or imici ) but, just fyi, the word from inside the project is that all 3 messy companies (yahoo, msn, aol/icq ) are all taking the " if we didn't develop it, we wont use it" stand point regarding the technology. Rumor has it that if they don't start working together, a client called Bantu will be designated as the tool to interact with all  services. Bantu is already used by military families to instant message securely across all chat messenger services.