America Online is slated to release a preview edition of AIM Triton this week that the company hopes will attract users looking for a taste of the next generation communications client. AOL has also moved up the launch of its PC-to-phone calling feature, which will debut in Triton 1.0.

The Triton preview, also known as Beta 6, builds upon AOL's new strategy of making AIM the veritable front door to the company's products. The release features one-click access to AOL Explorer, Search, AOL and AIM Mail, AIM Talk and the new TotalTalk VoIP calling service that debuted this week.

Triton additionally bundles a new AIM Address Book that syncs with Plaxo, and offers built-in access to AOL Radio featuring 20 XM music stations. The Triton Buddy List has been upgraded as well, with support for 500 contacts and "type down" searching.

AOL has rebuilt AIM from the ground up, says Chamath Palihapitiya, vice president and general manager of AIM and ICQ. And the changes are hard to miss; the client introduces an entirely new, simplified user interface. The underlying code is also modular, enabling AOL to tack on additional features over time.

Initially, Triton will focus on the core elements: text, voice and video instant messaging. From a new tabbed messaging interface that corrals all chat sessions into a single window, a user can transition from standard IMs to SMS text messaging, AIM Talk voice calling or streaming video with one click.

"Our goal is to let people focus on who they want to talk to and what they want to say, instead of worrying about which software application they need to open," says Palihapitiya.

To that end, AIM Talk -- a PC-to-PC calling feature that AOL introduced in 2000, long before voice chat vaulted Skype into a $2.6 billion valuation -- has been improved in Triton. The service now boasts better voice quality using the Pingtel open source-based SIPuxa and Global IP Sound (GIPS) platforms, and supports multi-party chats with up to 20 buddies.

When Triton 1.0 debuts later this year, calling to standard telephone numbers will also be possible through a new service code-named "AIM Talk Plus." As first reported by BetaNews, AIM Talk Plus was initially slated to launch alongside Triton 2.0 next spring. However, AOL wanted to get the feature out the door, even if it was still in beta.

AOL has not yet finalized pricing of AIM Talk Plus, but says the offering will be separate from TotalTalk. In the preview release, however, only TotalTalk subscribers will have access to AIM's soft-phone feature.

The Triton preview edition will be available for the first time on AIM.com later this week, an indication that the client may finally be ready for mainstream consumption.

"We want folks to feel comfortable that they can try the software and have a good experience while getting a taste of what's to come with AIM as a complete, integrated communications service," explained AOL spokesperson Krista Thomas.

But AOL acknowledges that the Triton preview may still have some beta kinks. "We still recommend that they keep AIM 5.9 on their desktops, however, until GM," Thomas added.