RSSAOL 9 Optimized Launches
By David Worthington | Published July 31, 2003, 7:36 PM
America Online has introduced AOL 9 optimized; a broadband version of the client software formerly code-named Blue Hawaii. Today’s announcement also gave legs to the "Members First" download campaign. Starting Friday, August 1st, subscribers using the Windows 2000 or XP operating system will get an exclusive first look at the code before the product’s general release to stores and other marketing outlets.
Since BetaNews first reported on the 9.0 beta in May, there have been a plethora of changes introduced to both the standard and broadband flavors of the client from a tight-lipped AOL.
Based upon the feedback of customers and over enrolled 150,000 testers, AOL is decking out both versions with lavish cosmetic changes. New "Prescott Skins," an attribute allowing users to select themes to change the appearance of the AOL client, will surface, along with a new customizable toolbar. Additionally, Email will function more like a traditional stand-alone application with a preview pane, integrated filing cabinet, and resizable mail columns.
Address Cards allow customers to share changes to telephone numbers, addresses or personal or work information with friends, family and other contacts.
As previously reported, AOL's Embedded Media Player, code-named Dalai Llama,
has been overhauled for Blue Hawaii. Real and QuickTime formats are now
supported, with Nullsoft Video (NSV) support scheduled for future beta
builds.
Although QuickTime was installed in Blue Hawaii by default, Real says AOL
will continue to ship with RealPlayer, but not the company's newer RealOne
client. "RealPlayer is shipped as part of AOL 9.0 beta," "There is a smart installer that first checks to see if the consumer has a newer version of the player on their machine - if so it doesn't install our player because there is no need, if not it does install," a Real spokesperson told BetaNews.
In a move resembling rival MSN, VA based America Online is converging most of its attention on its broadband services. Customers, who can, "bring their own broadband," will have a richer online experience at their fingertips in comparison to dial-up.
Family Ties
Families will benefit from a mix of security protections. The Web Unlock tool for parents - an enhancement to existing parental controls - can filter out access to offensive Websites and Internet content.
Smarter spam filtering paired with virus scanning for email attachments is also included into the security mix. Earlier this week, a McAfee spokesperson told BetaNews that AOL has chosen its firewall services to further protect customers.
Parents can enroll their teenagers into the AOL Cash Card program, an arrangement that offers a parent-controlled prepaid debit card from VISA International. Aside from the convenience allowances can now be a digital mentor on the merits of money management.
The youth push is also slated to commence new customized versions of the AOL service for kids and teens, demonstrating the fact that the 9.0 milestone has left room for extensive welcome screen personalization. Graced with the name "My AOL QuickView," welcome screens can be tailored to each user, or even appear as the customer’s default facade for each visit to AOL.com.
For those of us who are on the go, a featured dubbed "Shared Family Calendars" can help people stay connected. Family and friends who choose to "subscribe" to a calendar will receive automated updates on events that can be synched to Palm and Pocket PC PDA’s. There is also said to be off-line updating.
A Flurry of Features
New AOL TopSpeed Web acceleration technology revs up connection speeds for both high speed and dial-up users. If a connection is dropped or interrupted, TopSpeed will automatically resume the session.
Other features include 3D "SuperBuddy" Icons for AOL's Instant Messenger service. Further bolstering AOL's IM services, a new addition called IM Picture Sharing permits subscribers to instantly share digital images through AIM or AOL Mail services – making the phrase you've got pictures more contemporary in the face of real time communications. As with past implementations of photo-sharing, users have one centralized location to store pictures.
New storage options increase maximum email storage capacity to 20 megabytes per Screen Name – a total of 140 over all.
Saving the best for last, AOL 9 has dived headlong into the blogging craze. New to 9.0, AOL Journals is the caretaker for member photos, thoughts, or even travelogues. AOL Journals is integrated with the new Picture Finder feature for blanketing text entries with individual photos and albums.
Running the Broadband Gauntlet
This release of AOL for Broadband comes on the heels of last week’s revelation that AOL has hemorrhaged 846,000 narrowband subscribers in the past quarter. Microsoft's MSN has also experienced similar losses to its dial-up user base; as both companies have long been thought of as traditional old-horse ISPs.
To counter this trend, AOL for Broadband offers customers added incentives such as on-demand and exclusive programming from the Time Warner brand treasure chest. Broadband subscribers have VIP access to original news, sports, entertainment, and music content. For music lovers, over 175 channels are available through Radio@AOL, and special recording sessions are accessible through Sessions@AOL.
Showcasing its spotlight on Broadband services, executive Kevin Conroy was recently tapped as the new COO of AOL for Broadband.
Summing up the release, Jon Miller, AOL's Chairman and CEO, said: "Our members told us exactly what they want in their AOL service and AOL 9.0 Optimized was built in response. No matter how members and their families connect to the AOL service - whether by dial-up or by adding the AOL for Broadband service to a basic high-speed connection - this upgrade will allow each person to create the online world that they want."
MSN 9 is expected for a fall release to bring MSN up to parity with AOL's version number. Both companies offer bring your own broadband (BYOB) for a reduced rate in comparison to their dial-up access.
I have to say that the previous 22 comments have nothing to do with reviewing the quality or substance of the software, but rather comment on AOL as a service in general. If your review is not germane to AOL 9.0 download itself, please do a favor to the rest of the readers by putting those comments in relevant usenet newsgroups. Betanews is a platform for reviewing software, not rants or praises of companies as a whole. Thank you. Konrad.
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|Since it's release in 1993, AOL has never been able to become at least a decent ISP. In my opinion the only people desperate enough to use AOL are ones that A) don't know the nearest thing about computers or the internet, B) are too lazy to actually use a REAL internet service, or C)think that it's actually worth it.
Now they come with this...THEY CAN'T EVEN PUT A DECENT MEDIA PLAYER IN THERE! I know that's nothing but that's just a minor example of their lowliness. I'd rather spend my time with MSN than them. Oh well....my fifty cents.
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|just look - above - omg - it is soo obvious. having aol is like having a virus - and so many people know it.
I do service calls at different homes - and aol is responsible for 25% of the problems - and when i tell the customer that it is aol - they are shocked, they dont believe me - until i wipe their hard drive - and all of a sudden their computer runs fine -
death to the virus AOL, by the way - does any1 know of a program that will remove the aol virus completely - includiing the registry entries?
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|If you plan to use this, you're a loser... MSN 8 is much better and loaded with lots of functionality people loves... It also allows you to change from AOL to MSN the easies way... Long life MSN!!!
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|if you use it, you're stupid.
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|Since this company is a member of the RIAA, I wonder they sue their own customers who use P2P software?
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|aol is not for everybody but it's the best service for most people...I am force to keep it by others in the family...it's easy to use and rarely has problems over our cable connection...I have used it on the road via dial-up...not a pleasant experience...but whatever you think its better than msn and msn explorer...bleeding won't stop until they lower prices and stop all that flash-adds...
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|here we go again. another chance to be cool by saying aol sucks. my mother has been using aol for about 10 years and hasnt called techsupport...not once. that says alot since shes the exact opposite of a computer guru. its easy to use and extremely reliable. i fail to see what sucks about that? aol is far from perfect, but so is everything else.
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|Developed by losers for losers. Hey, anyone still working at AOHell in Mountain View: your FIRED!
9.0 wont stop the bleeding. Die AOl Die!
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|"spit on aol" what a useless comment :) I use it and like it, have you even tried it lately donpacman? Anyway, I can find NO sign of AOL 9 available for download in the UK, same as with AOL 8, here in the UK we are WAY behind the US
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|Uou can get AOL 8 by typing "upgrade" into your AOL browser,8 was sent out to all subscribers in early june.
AOL 9 will possibly be on AOL's ftp site in the couple of weeks but i doubt the American release will be work with UK broadband,it will work fine with UK subscribers on dial up.
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|This is just a preview release of AOL 9.0--basically, a public beta. :) This is AOL 9.0 build 4148.441, and it is currently available for download only by those on XP/2000 and broadband. Dial-up users on those operating systems can order CDs from the same place, KW: Upgrade, and AOL may roll out previews for other operating systems when available. The preview will expire in 45 days.
In the mean time, subscribers can look forward to the final, GM release of AOL 9.0 later this summer or fall.
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|>:-o~ ~ ~*AOL
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|Why?
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|rite now-AOL sucks big time..unless you are old & don't know anything about computer.........then it rocks.......
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|LOL.. I agree with the spitting on AOL. They have a product which is designed at a target audience that have a IQ of 5 or less, live in trailers, celebrate their pets birthday, and have VCRs that still flash 12:00 constantly.
Let's face it, their product encourages stupidity to thrive among the computer users. I would love to take their code base, set it on fire, and scatter the ashes all over the Pacific ocean.
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|"Let's face it, their product encourages stupidity to thrive among the computer users. I would love to take their code base, set it on fire, and scatter the ashes all over the Pacific ocean."
I can think of other products that are designed with this in mind. I'd wager that you are using at least one of them right now, as you read this.
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|AOL only has ONE SERVICE... Access to the net!
EVERYTHING AOL offers as a perk is FREE to download!
so... How much are you paying for a ONE service AOL?
>:-o~ ~ ~ ~*AOL SUCKERS
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|You mean Windows? Nah, Windows is a operating system. No such thing as a perfect operating system. Generally, most problems everyday users encounter are with APPLICATIONS that run on Windows. Gotta remember, you design apps for Windows, not vice versa. It'd be impossible for any company that makes a OS, be it MS, Red Hat, etc... to appease every hardware vendor out there, especially MS, since they have the largest user base.
But AOL? Sheesh, talk about shoddy coding. (shudder)
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|Yes. AOL is the worst thing to cross the computer world since...well, it's just the worst. I used it when I was about 6 (I'm 14 now). When I was 7 I decided it sucked. My family still used it, so I connected with AOL and browsed with IE.
I honestly pity anyone who says AOL is the best, or even a good, ISP. It's ads everywhere suck up bandwidth, along with the thousands of fellow computer-illiterates connected to it, and the skins just make it slow. And their releases annoy me. They change the emoticons and call it a brand new version.
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|Please tell me you've since ditched Internet Explorer for Netscape, Opera, Mozilla, or any other standards-compliant, feature-rich browser. :) IE is to the Web what you think AOL is to the Internet.
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|who cares?? People that come online and actually care that AOL "sucks" have no lives. Its a freaking internet, no big thing! It's people with no lives and computer nerds who care so much about the stupid internet. stop talkin s*** and move on losers!
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|Get your facts straight before posting.
AOL isn't just the Internet - they sell a Bring Your Own Access package as well.
It's actually a brilliant service, worth every penny. They offer premium services such as CNN Newspass (also in the Realone Superpass), good CD quality radio, and a big library of free streaming music videos.
I personally subscribe to MSN 8 (The AOL subscription belongs to my girlfriend). MSN 8 has better, faster, and more reliable software, while AOL has much better content (being that they have Time/Warner's content licensed).
Give AOL a try.. I don't think it's even much easier to use than Internet Explorer -- I don't know where that stereotype comes from.
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|One should steer clear of AOL, but no need to change from IE as a browser.
I tried Opera a few times over a few releases - and that is one lousy browser. And Netscape? Can I stop laughing now?
No thanks - I'll stick with IE. It is fast, reliable (certainly within XP) and gets the job done.
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