Posted on 08/15/2002 4:36:27 PM PDT by Bush2000
Here Comes Version 8.0
Will AOL's new software bring broadband users onboard? An early look says no.
Despite the turmoil roiling the AOL division, everything appears to be A-OK for the October launch of AOL 8.0, the annual update to the world's most widely used (and widely reviled) Internet access software. Every year the software gets slightly better--or slightly less annoying--and this upgrade appears to be no exception.
I've tested a succession of beta versions of AOL 8.0. Several significant new features will certainly be added before the launch, but even a late-July beta suggests that AOL has been successful in two critical areas: improving and expanding communication-based tools (e-mail, instant messaging, chat services), and reducing the frustrations of junk mail, pop-up ads, and disconnections.
On a structural level, AOL 8.0 will continue to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer web-browsing software. This is surprising given that earlier betas employed a browser from AOL's own Netscape division, and that Netscape is suing Microsoft, saying it used anticompetitive measures to boost IE at Netscape's expense. David Gang, who oversees the development of AOL's flagship software, says AOL is sticking with IE "for the time being" because switching might be too disruptive for the millions of AOL users expected to upgrade.
Most of the changes in the latest AOL 8.0 beta are cosmetic, including a cleaner opening screen and the ability to customize icons, sounds, and background colors. The customization extends to the chat, e-mail, and IM services.
Some of the 100 or so new features, however, address deeper issues. At the top of the list are better filters for junk mail, including the inevitable pornographic spam. The controls weren't fully implemented in the latest beta and seem inferior to the filters in MSN 8.0, also due in October. But AOL 8.0 gives parents better controls, including reports on what their kids are up to online.
One happy development is a feature that minimizes the suffering when a user is abruptly disconnected. Also, for those who still dial up, 8.0 gives options for handling incoming calls.
The more pressing issue for AOL is how to adapt to the new high-speed era of cable and DSL modems, where fast connections mean easier downloading and sharing of music, movies, TV, books, and other content. While the latest beta of 8.0 has improved ways for sharing photos and playing music, there's nothing to persuade more advanced, high-speed users to come onboard. Managing the transition to broadband is imperative if the company is going to hold on to customers who migrate to high-speed Internet connections.
On the bright side, 8.0 plays to AOL's chief asset: community. "Fundamentally, what people want to do online is to get connected with other people," says Gang, and 8.0 bristles with relevant new tools. The software notifies the user if a chat-room discussion comes around to a favorite topic and can even play matchmaker, arranging IM chats.
Overall, AOL 8.0 is shaping up as a modestly appealing upgrade for existing customers and Internet novices, but nothing particularly appealing for savvy Internet users. AOL continues to send its users onto the increasingly speedy information superhighway in brightly colored, beeping golf carts. But the 35 million people who like the simplicity--and the community--are likely to find AOL 8.0 the easiest version yet.
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