AOL Time Warner: Here Comes Version 8.0

FORTUNE ^ | Monday, September 2, 2002 | Peter Lewis

[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.

[Bush2000]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

[ECM]

Ditto :)

[Bush2000]

Another nail in the coffin of the so-called "browser war".

[bert]

One happy development is a feature that minimizes the suffering when a user is abruptly disconnected.....

How pray tell can it do that? Will it bypass a busy signal?

We advocate FReepers on AOL to find another service. CCRM

www. fairpress.org

[Mr. Mulliner]

Slay the AOL Monster

[Mr. Mulliner]

We just got a new computer last month and it came with 6 months of free AOL. They could offer me 5 years of it for free and I still wouldn't use the thing. I've been liberated from them for over 5 years, you see, and there's nothing harder than to get a former slave to go back to the plantation.

[pray4liberty]

AOL funds all sorts of liberal causes. Try wechooselife.net as an ISP alternative.

[Grut]

...there's nothing harder than to get a former slave to go back to the plantation.

Oh, I don't know about that; the Democrats seem to have managed....

[Paul Atreides]

A**hOLe Time Warner

[Gorzaloon]

The more pressing issue for AOL is how to adapt to the new high-speed era of cable and DSL modems, where The users might get a glimpse of the Internet and the WWW, and ruin everything.

Free Clue (For AOL'ers):

AOL is not the internet, nor the Web.

[hove]

HEY...where's the barf alert??

[A CA Guy]

The owner of AOL bought Time Warner because AOL was in trouble in it's future and he knew it.

Can't think of a worse Company for the net than AOL.

It only serves one client I know of, the international travelor that needs local access all over the world.

So they can serve 1/2 of 1% OF the market.

Earthlink and MSN are 2nd and 3rd on the list for worst value.

[isthisnickcool]

MS won the browser war a long time ago.

Wonder why they won't produce a port of IE for Linux? Since they are not scared of Linux and whatnot.

[sigSEGV]

Because Mozilla is better?

[TechJunkYard]

Because no one would use it?

[Mr_Magoo]

Q. What, exactly, is the Internet?
A. The Internet is a worldwide network of university, government,
business, and private computer systems.
Q. Who runs it?
A. A 13-year-old named Jason.
Q. How can I get on the Internet?
A. The easiest way is to sign up with one of the popular commercial
"online" services, such as Prodigy, CompuServe, or America Online,
which will give you their program disks for free. Or, if you just
leave your house unlocked, they'll sneak in some night and install
their programs on your computer when you're sleeping. They really
want your business.
Q. What are the benefits of these services?
A. The major benefit is that they all have simple, "user-friendly"
interfaces that enable you - even if you have no previous computer
experience - to provide the online services with the information
they need to automatically put monthly charges on your credit card
bill forever.
Q. What if I die?
A. They don't care.
Q. Can't I cancel my account?
A. Of course! You can cancel your account at anytime.
Q. How?
A. Nobody has ever been able to find out. Some of us have been trying
for years to cancel our online service accounts, but no matter what
we do, the charges keep appearing on our bills. We're thinking of
entering the Federal Witness Protection Program.

[DarthFuzball]

There is a new family friendly premiun isp that has an affiliate program to help reduse the cost.

FreepMail me for info. (Not gonna spam)

p.s. Hope i just didn't.

[Bush2000]

Because Mozilla is better?

Rrrrrrright. Mozilla is so much better, in fact, that AOL is dropping it from their 8.0 software.

[sigSEGV]

You know as well as I do its because most AOL users running a Microsoft OS would have trouble finding where their new "back" button is.

[goldstategop]

One would think they would use the Netscape browser by now as their integrated online surfing software. After all they do own the company. And here they are putting more money into Bill Gates' pocket with one hand even as they sue him with the other. That's the thing about liberals: they want to have it both ways on just about everything one can name.