Aol 9.0?

[tomtomg59]

Hello Everyone: Is anyone using aol 9.0? I was thinking about downloading it, but would like to know if anyone is experiencing any problems (like hogging resources etc) just some pro's and con's Thanks

[wiltrot]

I just updated to 9.0. It's pretty nice (though AOL is not my primary ISP). I have an account and receive their service through my cable modem. And also, so I can get on-line when I'm away from home.

[tomtomg59]

wiltrot
Thanks for the reply, let me know if you have any trouble, i have been hearing that it soaks up alot of resources? They have alot of extra junk on it?

[Mark Miller]

My wife has been using it since it came out, also not our primary, we bring our own access thru cable. She loves it, I am also finding things that are very cool and wish I could do with ie. Try it you will like it. With XP resources are really not a problem so I can't answer that for an older system. The download speed is the same whether I use aol or my regular connection.
Mark:)

[tomtomg59]

Mark, Thanks, i think i will try it next week, giving a little more time for replies pros and cons!

[PrntRhd]

AOL 9.0 is Beta, it still has some bugs at this stage.
It has McAffee antivirus screening.
It has popup contols.
It has spam filters.
It has different mail controls.
It has re-connect software to get back online after you get bumped, of course you will do it manually as it is slow to sense the status.
It is still pricier than other national isps.
It has a brighter toolbar.

AOL Mail is still non-POP (non-standard), so many mail programs will not work with it.

It still is big and intrusive.

A tip for AOL users, go to Start>Programs>AOL>AOL System Information,
look at percentage of memory window on first page. It MUST be over 40% free with everything running or you better not use the version. Requirements for 9.0 are the same as 8.0, 7.0.

[Mark Miller]

PrntRhd.
Unfortunately some of your info is really not correct.
Aol 9.0 is really not beta as I already have disk for it.
The requirements are different also. You need 128mgs of ram vs 64 for early versions. It also has Mcafee free firewall and a pretty good pop-up blocker Can preview the mail without opening mail box. It runs best on broadband so you really don't have the reconnect problem [aol 9.0 optimized]. as far as resources on XP this is really not an issue. On older systems you are correct.
Not trying to flame.
Mark:)

[PrntRhd]

Mark,
My first load was via 9.0 disk as Beta, fyi.
Current users of prior versions were only ones 9.0 beta was targeted to, probably to minimize defections to other Isps.
When you see AOL 9.0 disks in WalMart and Comp USA you can be sure it is full release.
I am in the beta test program, you see.

If you type keyword beta, and you don't have to agree to a new license agreement, you can be certain what you have is beta.

[Mark Miller]

Hi,
If you check now they say it is gold, which I always thought meant that it had passed beta stage. They are still adding features thru the beta test program. So maybe we are both right .
Anyway we bring our own acess and my wife really likes the new aol. I myself use it just to sometimes play of all things SLINGO!!!
Weird huh.
Have a great day
Mark :D

[jeffhhh]

I installed 9.0 and now my router doesn't work.

See my post above if anyone can help.

[Mark Miller]

Sorry for your trouble,
How are you connected, by that I mean do you bring your acess or do you use aol broadband, and is it ppoe?
mark

[jeffhhh]

I'm on the bring your own access plan. I use road runner with a cable modem with a linksys router(model #BEFSR41) between the PC and modem . I never had any problems accessing aol with the router until I upgraded aol to 9.0. I never could get AOL 8.0 to work no matter what I tried but 9.0 works if I connect the cable modem directly to the PC. None of my internet based programs (Intenet explorer, Netscape, Kazaa, etc.) will work now if I'm using the router. I'm not familiar with pppoe.

Thanks

PS: I have started a seperate thread on this so please respond with help there as I was just responding to tomtomg59's question on this thread.

[PrntRhd]

Hey MarkMiller,

AOL 9.0 is finally official, they are sending out the disks now with "1045 free hours".
It is ironic that today I got notification I can finally get DSL at this location the day the 9.0 disk arrived.
I had AOL Broadband up till 6 months ago when I moved locally and lost the DSL as the Telcom (Pacific Bell/SBC) had no equipment in the new local central switch location.
AOL Broadband was using Winpoet at the prior location but was using SBC's backbone for the actual connection. I used AOL because AOL was willing to drive the telcom to offer the service, and offered it at a discount compared to SBC but raised rates the last 3 months on the service, speed was reasonable but not as good as SBC service itself, it used a Actiontec USB modem which I set up on one PC with ICS to share to the other 3 computers on a Linksys switch.

I have not decided to go with SBC Yahoo DSL, might go Covad if given a choice.

[Mark Miller]

Hi,
I hear that both services are good. Personally I bring my own cable service [Charter] and run Aol over it. I know it cost more but I have a real good price on the cable because of packages [$20].
anyway go to
www.dslreports.com to check out the dsl services, really a good site.
Just a note when I talked to Aol to turn on the ability to use them at the same time from 2 computers they lowered my price for a few months and said that 9.0 was gold since the beginning of Sept.
Have a great day
Mark:)

[PrntRhd]

On static DSL with SBC Yahoo now, no more Winpoet so opens from any browser on the client. It also has DHCP for LAN so my XP laptop can be updated easily without having to mess with configurations.
Their firewall is rudimentary however, only hides you from outside, so I will still use software firewalls on clients to be safer.

The only issue I have with AOL 9.0 is the loss of the ability to bcc people. AOL 8.0 Plus had that ability which I found useful in sending funnies to friends.

[Mark Miller]

Prntrhd,
I'll have my wife check it out as she likes bcc also. Why would they do away with that? Seems to be a normal feature so as not to let everyone know who your sending mail to.
Weird, thanks for heads up on that feature.
Mark:confused:

[Mark Miller]

Hi Prntrhd,
My wife just checked under the help files for aol mail and you can still send bcc. It's almost the same as it was before.
So as not to go into a whole convoluted description here, just go to help after you open up mail and go thru the varios menus and you will absolutly find it.
Hope this helps.
MArk

[PrntRhd]

thanks, will try that