Yahoo! Begins Public Testing of New Yahoo! Mail; Incorporates Oddpost Technology, Provides Faster, Richer and More Dynamic Web Mail

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2005--Yahoo!, (Nasdaq:YHOO) a leading global internet company, today announced the start of a beta test of a new version of Yahoo! Mail (http://mail.yahoo.com), a global leader in e-mail and the No. 1 service in the U.S.(1) The new Yahoo! Mail beta provides a faster experience with enhanced functionality, such as drag and drop e-mail organization and message preview. Like the current Yahoo! Mail experience, the new version is browser-based, making it universally accessible from any computer connected to the Internet, without the need for a software download. The beta incorporates the technological expertise demonstrated by Oddpost, a company acquired by Yahoo! in July 2004, and provides the most significant enhancement to the Yahoo! Mail interface and user experience since its launch in 1997.

The beta became available today to a limited group of Yahoo! Mail users in the United States and will be broadened to include additional Yahoo! Mail users worldwide in the coming months. Yahoo! intends to make the new version available to all users after the completion of beta testing. Beta testers will be able to toggle between the different versions of Yahoo! Mail in order to try the new interface.

"This beta gives people a faster and more dynamic way to experience Yahoo! Mail, yet continues to offer the same features they rely upon today: great anti-spam and virus protection, tons of storage, it's all there," said Ethan Diamond, director, product development, Yahoo! Mail. "We're looking forward to receiving feedback on the beta as we continue the development process."

Highlights of the beta version of Yahoo! Mail include increased speed and features such as:

-- Fast and easy-to-use interface that functions like a desktop client application

-- Drag-and-drop message organization

-- Reading pane to instantly view messages

-- Comprehensive and speedy search of e-mail headers, bodies, and attachments

-- Ability to view multiple e-mails at the same time

-- Automatic check and delivery of new mail

-- Keyboard shortcuts and right click menus

-- Ability to scroll through all message headers in a folder, rather than page by page

-- Address autocomplete

-- Industry-leading protection from spam and viruses

-- Available on Firefox (Mac/Windows) and Internet Explorer (Windows only)

-- Remains free, supported by advertisers.

The enhanced speed and features are made possible through the latest generation of technologies such as dynamic HTML (DHTML), XML and SOAP.

Information about the beta is available at http://whatsnew.mail.yahoo.com.

About Yahoo! Mail

Launched in October 1997, Yahoo! Mail is one of the Web's largest, most popular free e-mail providers. Yahoo! Mail helps people stay in touch at home, at work, or while traveling for business or pleasure, and is available in 21 languages. Yahoo! Mail is fully integrated with Yahoo!'s many other popular services to make it easy to access all the Internet services people need. Yahoo! Mail has recently received Editors' Choice awards from both PC Magazine and CNET.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 world properties and is available in 13 languages.

(1) According to comScore Media Metrix, July 2005