Email programs and AOL

[BigFred]

I currently use AOL for my internet access and am less than thrilled with the utility of its email setup. I keep the account because I'm active duty military and have had the same screen name for years and many former shipmates have it and contact me routinely so I don't want to give it up. Is it possible to setup MS Outlook as my email "server" while using AOL as my ISP? I use Outlook at work and like it's utility for organizing. My primary use of the internet is email/web surfing and have little use for all the additional bells/whistles/chatroom crap, so I would shift to a cheaper ISP in a heart beat if I could keep my AOL address, but I don't think that's possible. Any ideas???

[Budfred]

You cannot switch to another ISP and keep your AOL address, but you can send out an email to everyone in your address book when you switch asking them to use the new address. You can also overlap for a month so friends have time to switch over. I have changed ISPs a number of times and I just do this to keep in touch with friends.

As I understand AOL, there is no reason why you can't use Outlook or any other mail program to handle your mail. You just install and set it up with your ISP address.