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The NEW AOL 7? Written by: Dan Daily
Hi Gang! Well here we go. I've been getting buried in mail asking about the "New" Aol 7. So, it's time! .
First Question: Is AOL7 New? Not a chance gang. Basically it's a fixed Aol6. I installed it the day it came out and have been using it here and there since. It installed well, but ruined my address book. If you install Aol7. When it asks, make sure you tell it to COPY the files. COPY ONLY!!! This way your old version of Aol will remain on your computer untouched. Had I told it to move the files, you wouldn't be getting this email update at all! My solution to the address book? Well, I deleted all the entries it had and would have had to either reinstall it, or manually copy and paste my old book into it. I chose neither. I'm not using AOL7 period.
Danny Your Not Using It? No, not a chance. If you don't know, AOL now keeps your address book on it's servers. This is part of the AOL anywhere strategy. The problem is, there is no save button for saving it into your computer. So, if AOL screws your book up, or if you mistakenly delete an address. It's gone forever. I'm not that good, I make mistakes. I like having a backup on my drive.
Is There A Way Around This? Yes there is. You have to open the AOL folder, copy and paste the organize folder somewhere else. That does save all your screen names, favorite places and pfc's. This method takes a couple of minutes to do. My address book changes at least 15 times a day and I save it every time a change is made. Using this method just to save my address book would take forever. Not for me, no thanks. The beta testers addressed this issue all the way back in the AOL6 days and AOL ignored us then, as they have continued to ignore the issue now. What's so hard about a damned button? 5 has one. Sheesh... So the bottom line is; if you ever make a mistake on your address book: Tough! I find that totally unacceptable in this day and age. They've got to be kidding. We're going back to AOL 4 days here gang.
The Print Button Another issue they continue to ignore. Aol5 has a print icon on the task bar. Want to print something? Easy, push it. Now you have to click the print button at the top on the menu bar and go to another screen and click print again! I thought this was supposed to be the easiest AOL ever?
Two Address Bars For some reason AOL feels they must have a separate search bar and a second URL address bar when one bar always did both. This takes up precious space on the task bar for no reason. It makes no sense at all. I'd rather have a few of my favorite places up there, or how about a print button or a Home button. What an original thought...
The Channel Bar I hate this "feature." There is no way to keep it from popping up every time you sign on. There is a button to remove it, but when you sign back on, it's back. The Welcome Screen now covers your buddy list. The "Window remember size and position" command doesn't work on the Welcome Screen any longer. Heaven forbid you should cover up their precious channel bar. I just Hate this. How annoying. Is AOL supposed to be annoying? And I'm paying for this? I'll just stay with 5 thank you very much.
Making Your Profile There must be a way, I can't find it.
Downloading Files Now you just can't click on the download button. It gives you a menu to download now or later. Not a big issue, but another step. Just like print. These little "another steps" start to add up. Know what I mean?
Read Mail Another of the same thing. Now you hold over read mail, and have to look to the right for another menu of New Mail, Old Mail, or Sent Mail. What's wrong with putting them on the same menu like it always was? Making additional drop down menus just for the sake of doing it? This is not easier, it's a royal pain.
The Media Player The new AOL Media Player tries to take over your system. Be aware: It tried to become my default CD player. I use Win Amp, no thanks AOL. It did take all my Quick Time extensions. I am glad Quick Time is smart enough to tell you what happened and gives you the option to restore the original settings without a complete re-install. AOL? Leave my computer alone. It's mine, I paid for it, you didn't!
There Are Pro's I do like the new email screens. It reads html email well, and graphics don't suddenly jump on the screen like they do in 5.
The Interface As in Aol6, I like the interface better. It's cleaner, more professional looking and much less cartoonish. (I never liked that.)
The Personal Filing Cabinet Aol7 has a button for adding an email to the PFC. I do like that. In the past, you could only tell the PFC to keep copies of all email received, all email sent, or both. Now you can just click a button to keep what you want to keep. That is a definite improvement.
AOL Weather I like this one. Now on the Welcome Screen, you have your temperature and local links for your area. This is a very nice feature. I'd use it a lot if I used AOL 7.
Notify AOL Button I like this one to. When you get spam mail, you don't even have to open it. Just click the Notify AOL button to report it. No more opening it and forwarding it to Tosemail1 or Tosspam. It's about time.
My Places On The Welcome Screen This is much smaller now. If you're like me, you never use it anyway as everything on it has to be AOL content. Now it's half the size in favor of local content. An Improvement.
Sortable Email This could be a welcome feature to many. You can now sort your mail screens by date, name of sender, type of email, or subject. I would sort by date anyway so it means nothing to me, but many will use this feature.
AOL Plus AOL Plus gets an improvement as well. No longer do you have to wait for the stupid pop-up screen that you can't get rid of. Now it's just another section under the Welcome Screen. You might not even notice it's there until you try dial up and it's not. That's kewl.
So There You Have It As you can see gang, as anything else in life it's a mixed bag. There are plus's and minus's. If you can live with the address book dilemma and the Welcome Screen always blocking your Buddy List, give it a try. It's very stable. But for me? I have to stay with AOL5.
The Bottom Line? Remember, have your computer backed up whenever you install a major system. Those that installed AOL6 and didn't, learned the hard way. Even though it installed very smoothly for me, doesn't mean it will for you. It's too early to tell how this will shake out.
I hope this helps you on your road. Your Road? Yes, Your Road To Computer Sanity Danny
New Virus's Survivor Virus--- Deletes your files one by one over 13 weeks until only the most annoying one remains. Dan Quayle Virus--- Destroys all the files stored on your Etch-a-Sketch. Tiger Woods Virus--- Beats the holy crap out of you in every computer game you play. Britney Spears Virus--- Your partitions mysteriously quadruple in size overnight. Firestone Virus--- Leaves chunks of its code all over the information highway. I HATE YOU Virus--- Emits shrill screams from your speakers when you refuse to buy the new computer game that "all the other computers at school already have." Boulder Police Virus--- Can't even *find* your computer. "Redneck Computer Virus!"--- As we don't have any programming experience, this virus works on the honor system. Please delete all of the files on your hard drive, and manually forward this virus to everyone on your mailing list. Thank you for your cooperation. --- Bubba
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