Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

AOL Mail To Be Accessible Via IMAP

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the move-in-right-direction dept.

jfruhlinger writes "News.com.com is reporting that AOL's e-mail service, long accessible only via AOL's proprietary, monolithic app, will be available via IMAP starting Thursday. The story notes that this is part of a series of initiatives from AOL to move content beyond its walled garden and into standards-based formats such as HTML and IMAP that any Internet app can access. Supposedly a 'a dramatically different direction' for Netscape is in the works, too."

5 of 296 comments (clear)

  1. And the best IMAP Client is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Mozilla Thunderbird. They've even recently added IMAP IDLE support! (It's in the nightlies.)

    1. Re:And the best IMAP Client is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you're wondering what IMAP IDLE is, and why you should care, read this review of IMAP email clients -- by an MS developer who works on their email software (the review's conclusion may surprise you).

  2. Unofficial AOL Email FAQ by bcolflesh · · Score: 5, Informative

    Accessing the AOL Mail System using
    IMAP & Authenticated SMTP
    An Unofficial Guide

  3. Re:AOL on the outs by bhtooefr · · Score: 4, Informative

    And they still do. It costs (AFAIK) (for cable) about $5 more than RoadRunner. It's the same basic service, but without the RoadRunner brand and with a cheaper version of AOL's BYOI (Bring Your Own ISP) service (which costs about $7/mo, IIRC).

  4. Re:IP stack and access to AOL content by wawannem · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's not that AOL's IP stack is different, it is that AOL uses a different data link protocol than most dialup ISPs. Rather than opening a PPP session, when you connect to AOL, you establish a bastardized L2TP session with a machine referred to as a BERP. The BERPs essentially act as proxies for everything you attempt to access once you are connected. There are open source attempts to reverse engineer their protocols with pengAOL being the only one I can remember off the top of my head.

    In regard to using proprietary protocols, it isn't that AOL has some master plan to lock customers into this proprietary infrastructure, it is just the way AOL has evolved. Imagine for a second, that you worked at an ISP with 22 million customers (up to 35 million at your peak). There is a point where the open protocols just don't fit your needs any more. AOL simply patched a solution together that has been working ever since.