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AOL Builds New IE-Based Browser
jfruhlinger writes "According to News.com.com.com, America Online is preparing to release a free AOL-branded browser that is 'based on Microsoft's Internet Explorer technology.' The browser will be available to users who don't have AOL as their ISP. I admit that I find this development baffling -- not only does AOL already own a browser, but why on earth would a non-AOL user want to use an AOL-branded version of IE?"
Okay, I can't.
AOL is for dumb users. IE is for dumb users. This is a perfect match.
(This will probably get me modded as flamebait, but in the old days of Slashdot, it wouldn't.)
Microsoft last year granted AOL a seven-year royalty-free license to use IE technology in its products. The license was one of many concessions that Microsoft offered AOL as part of a $750 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit filed by Netscape in January 2002.
However, one source familiar with the new software said the Microsoft settlement and IE license did not play a factor in AOL's decision to develop its own browser.
Yeah, right...
Evil A + Evil B = More evil!
They are scared of google. If you can find your email and web searches easily, why do you need AOL's portal? You don't.
Google is going to release a browser that is just AOL for free. Pretty content filling the screen all over the place making the daily news, email, messaging free and easy for everybody.
AOL and microsoft-- they both know this. This is their answer.
God help us all.
If I recall AOL as a Settlement from Microsoft got the right to use IE in their program or even as a browser like this for free for like 7 years. thus the use of IE here. why spend money developing your own browser when you can use someone elses for free and just put a little front end on it?
AOL OS?
though there wasnt much detail in the article, I suspect it is simply going to be ie with an aol 'skin'. I suspect they dont have access to ie source code....
*user clicks close button*
[POPUP:] Thank you for being an AOL Browser user! I'm sorry you have decided to stop using it. I'm going to go ahead and leave it open for a few more minutes, for FREE.
*shows [OK] button only*
ermmm...
Anyone who's still locked into AOL and hasn't left yet must obviously be very trusting of their brand. Not only that, but an AOL-specific version for their customers means easier troubleshooting. Don't forget that MS has abandoned IE upgrades for the older generations of Windows installations; hopefully AOL might release its own security packs later?
Get off my launchpad!
Someone had to say it....
----
CUZ TEH INTERNET IS SO MUCH DIF3RENT WHEN UR VEIWNG IT WIT AOL!!1! OMG LOL
I think it's rather simple.. they want to be synonymous with "The Web" (known to us as a collection of other things) to the average home user. I know plenty of folk who think AOL *IS* the web.. it can't hurt their business.
Now, as to who would want an AOL branded IE, I know I wouldn't, but I imagine they will introduce some value-add to make it interesting to the typical non-technical user.
NOW I CAN AUTOMATICALLY POST IN ALL CAPS!
but the damn slashdot filter seems to know I'm using AOL.
Alright, so AOL is the bane of the internet. AOL users really aren't the most knowledgable users on the internet either. So pairing up AOL users with Internet Explorer (known for its holes and exploits) will just make the worm and virus problem worse. I mean, with all the popups with IE and AOL users used to pretty flashing content through AOL...means a lot of infected machines.
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams" -- Willy Wonka
I'd use IE branded butt wipe, AOL for that matter, too.
No Nyarlathotep, No Chaos
Know Nyarlathotep, Know Chaos
AOL CDs....Now with more crap !
... doot doot doot !!!
...of course is will AOL simply reskin the existing IE or will they actually write their own and address security issues on their own?
Until that day arrives, Micro$oft continues to dominate the browser market and owns 90% of it. Hence, AOL, like any other commercial company, will back the de facto standard. Since 90% of the market is Internet Explorer, most web page designers will build their pages to be compatible with Internet Explorer (IE). AOL has an economic motivation to use IE technology as the basis of the new AOL browser.
Similar reasoning applies for office applications. Most programmers prefer to write office applications for Windows instead of MacOS because Windows dominates the market.
Apple missed the boat ... er ... luxury superliner on that "one".
You should read There must be a pony in here somewhere (reviewed by me on Slashdot) to find out AOL's real strategy. Netscape was not bought out for its software technologies.
Netscape was bought out so that the marketing department called up Microsoft and told Microsoft they wanted an AOL icon on each and every desktop with newly-shipped Windows. For like 2 or 3 years Microsoft did exactly that, which brought AOL who knows how many customers that paid for the service. Distributing Netscape-based browser to the AOL subscribers would have no financial benefits for AOL whatsoever.
First I want to say that I hate AOL... Im just trying to figure this out.
But I would think they are *trying* for the best of both worlds...
AOL has better content controll from years of being "family friendly", however they have built their browser into a portal platform. Besides the sheer quantity of suck that AOL brings, one of their worst problems is that its not that easy to just type in a address and go, thats where IE comes in.
I think their stand alone browser might appeal to end users looking for content control without having to install the AOL software on their computer and getting AOL's portal services.
The browser will probably be available to AOL users to provide them more ease of use, while allowing them to still moderate what their children see through the browser.
Again.. I hate AOL, its the devil, but this is the spin I see AOL trying to put on it.
Fire in the hands of the village idiot is no tool, but a weapon of mass destruction
AOL must want a browser with all of the latest security holes, without the work.
"(...) but why on earth would a non-AOL user want to use an AOL-branded version of IE?"
:)
I believe this is called "masochism".
The problem with Slashdot memes is that YOU INSENSITIVE CLOD!
While AOL may own Netscape, they probably found that a lot of sites out there were still IE specific and they couldn't afford the support costs for angry users who couldn't visit them. I'd probably do the same thing if I were running that project.
(Score:-1, Wrong)
"why on earth would a non-AOL user want to use an AOL-branded version of IE?"
It's a tech support warning marker.
User: My system is slow and unresponsive and it keeps asking me if I a bride from Soviet Russia
Tech: Uh, ok sir. What Operating System, web browser/version,
User: I've got Microsoft Windows ME with Internet Explorer from AOL.. [click... dial tone] Hello?
Michalangelo Progr
AOL sticks with IE in a deal with the devil! AOL is evil.
AOL buys Nullsoft. Definitely good!
AOL axes Gnutella, Justin leaves for greener pastures. AOL, clearly evil.
AOL uses wxWindows in AOL Communicator. AOL is obviously good!
AOL releases a branded version of IE. AOL, definitely evil.
Look, AOL is a big fucking company. They are going to do lots of good and evil things, because there are lots of people making decisions at different levels of the company. Do they have a coherent browser strategy? Not really. Have they tromped on the corpse of Netscape? Definitely.
There's finally a good browser based on Gecko (Firefox) and they've basically abandoned the Netscape browser. But AOL is just dealing with the reality of who their user base is and what they expect (the trailing edge of the Internet revolution, if you will - these people think IE is great, and will think a better IE is even better). And for all I know there may still be deals in place keeping them working with MS on the browser front - for a long time they were locked into that deal to get pre-installed AOL with Windows. Also, I wouldn't be shocked to see an AOL-branded or Netscape-branded version of Firefox come down the pipe 4 or 5 months from now too (post 1.0, of course).
As for the rest of us, let's just enjoy the cool shit that AOL occasionally produces, and continue to ignore the rest of the crap that will invariably come out of them.
That's easy to explain. First they tried something logical. Buy netscape. Open up codebase. Attract zillions of developers. Use enhanched codebase for own brand. Whatever.
It didn't work out as they expected. So now, they must think: we tried something that made a lot of sense and it didn't work. Maybe if we try out something that doesn't make any sense it will work. Simple and logical.
This won't necessarily force AOL users to upgrade - I know plenty who use AOL 6 or earlier! But it will be a significant force that Microsoft can use to get more people to give them money.
I don't know why AOL is building on IE, but I can see many good reasons why Microsoft would want them to. There are a lot of AOL users out there, and that's a lot of revenue Microsoft could gain.
I don't think it's a coincidence that this came out so soon after the deadline for appealing the antitrust settlement passed. If I'm right in believing that the new AOL will only run on XP, then it's possible the antitrust lawyers for the hold-out States would have had ammunition to attack (although probably not destroy) the settlement.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
I've had a really bad experience trying to cancel AOL some years ago.
I don't know whether the person on the phone accidentally gave me the wrong number or if they were trying to throw a hint at me. I called their customer service center and asked to cancel the account. She fought tooth and nail to get me not to cancel (of course) and finally gave me a phone number to call in order to cancel. Okay, but there was one problem when I called.
"To talk live to a hot, horny girl, press 1."
I have no idea whether she gave me the wrong number (I read it back about three times to confirm) or she was hinting to me to "go fuck myself" because I wanted to cancel.
And, if you actually manage to close it, it puts your pops up messages periodically asking if you'd like to reopen it...
(Anonymously to protect the shame of having once been an AOL user oh so long ago...)
A friend's mother recently bought a computer (which it was up to me to get working), and the thing came infested with AOL. Not only was there AOL links everywhere, and AIM running at startup, but the system manufacturer had set every instance of I.E. to an AOL branded Netscape browser. Going to program files -> Internet Explorer revealed, you guessed it, a app to sign up for AOL. The regular address bar in windows had been replaced by an AOL bar, which also fed everything through the AOLified Netscape (the normal address bar had been turned off by default and, once on, was shoved almost entirely off the side of the window).
It was a mess, quite frankly. Welcome to the future.
The ______ Agenda
AOL put a lot of money into working on Mozilla and didn't pull any corporate shenanigans a la Sun's debacle with OpenOffice. Where would Mozilla be today had AOL/Netscape not pull millions of dollars of R&D money into building it up? Probably nowhere, or just now becoming remotely useful.
OSS fans need to adopt a bit of political realism here. Corporate entities are amoral, and that means that they will side with those who best serve their owners' interests. It is thus in the interest of OSS users to actively encourage them to see OSS like Mozilla, OpenOffice and the Linux kernel as being in their interests to support.
AOL has given a lot, and I can't think of them actually taking anything. Does anyone seriously expect the average AOL user to jump over to Firefox? It's hard to believe that people as smart as many OSS users are so detatched from the public that they don't see how incompetent most AOL users are. AOL knows that, most of us should too.
The people who are hooked on AOL are not a significant enough block anymore to be the pivotal base to win over. If AOL is smart, they'll capitalize on their investment into Mozilla by making the Mac version of AOL software use Gecko. That's more than enough users to make a dent in the market. AOL, last I heard, had two million Mac users. That'd be over twice the number of people that downloaded Firefox 1.0PR.
In the end, people should be amazed that AOL has given so much to OSS communities, without playing battered wife to the Evil Empire like Sun is doing now after their settlement.
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
Take a moment to reflect on the target audience of AOL. Just reflect; you know what they're like. They're not really stupid, but they're just not exactly hacker types.
...
Now think about what happens in that person's brain when they see an AOL icon in the corner of the browser window.
"I'm using AOL!"
Now imagine what happens inside the person's brain when AOL tries to sell them the AOL service.
"I'm already using AOL! Why would I pay for it?"
It's rare that you're presented with a knob whose only two positions are Make History and Flee Your Glorious Destiny.
Stop insulting Swiss Cheese!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Yep yep. Am I evil for thinking that this may be beneficial to me as an IT consultant? I figure that I tell clients that AOL is crap and it's their problem their money if they continue to use it. (AOL's autofix thing for network connections, by the way, has broken the connections of two of my clients' computers and costs them a fortune for me to come out there and delete AOL's autoconfig'ed settings. Stupid, stupid stuff.) I know this is all horribly off topic but whatever.
They do make it as hard as possible to cancel. Not only do they make you dial a special cancellations number, which is not published, and barely staffed, they also put the poor saps that work that particular line in a very tough spot - they are supposed to talk you out of cancelling, and if they cancel too many accounts in a day they will be fired. They get bonuses for NOT cancelling - even though they're answering a line that is for cancellations only, and one where the simple fact that the customer has the number to dial indicates they've already waded through a lot of shit to get there, so they're pretty determined.
I doubt that giving you porn numbers is official policy, but having seen the incredibly disrespectful ways that AOL reps are required to treat customers that want to quit, I wouldn't really be surprised.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
but why on earth would a non-AOL user want to use an AOL-branded version of IE?"
B/c there are still plenty of clueless users that AOL does not yet monopolize, and ironically they won't have a clue that the browser is just IE with AOL logos on it and an AOL homepage.
Flying is easy, just throw yourself at the ground and miss. -Douglas Adams
While Working at Time Warner Cable we had to switch from Lotus Notes to AOL Mail when we merged. Ha Ha. - I remember it like yesterday. Their crappy software conflicted with the MS Networking in a few crappy Win 95 computers that caused them to stop talking to the network. During our few calls to "corporate tech support" we were offered "Long Distance" plans during the calls.
Their new plan to use IE technology when they own Netscape is perfectly logical when viewed in the context of previous "management" exposure.
So AOL's plans seem to be buy something at it's highest cost (like Netscape) - turn it into crap - cut losses by laying people off - watch stock value plummet - fire management - quit with huge severance package.
Well, I usually tell them that I'm leaving the country.
That works like a charm everytime, and they just can't argue against that now can they?
Ofcourse, I had a bad experience once when the guy wanted to know *why* I was leaving the country.
Ehmmm.
That sounds just like the kind of shit RealPlayer used to pull.
;)
From what little of it I have seen recently it has calmed down a little, but it used to get everywhere.
Perhaps the coder in charge of screen real estate got a new job at AOL
liqbase
Stupid users + insecure browser = why don't they just GIVE their computers away?
Talk about a bunch of zombie machines waiting to happen.
Question everything
You've cancelled AOL more than once?
You've got a virus!
Because not everybody is computer literate enough to know that AOL sucks. Granny aint going to care what some punk tells her if AOL is telling her they can make her internet simpler. I find it distasteful that people on here can't understand that the internet does not make sense to everybody, and that some people need assistance with it.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I haven't read the book, but that sounds wrong. The MSFT/AOL deal you refer to was in place for several years before AOL purchased Netscape. Even if this were not the case, you don't pay $4 billion ($10 billion, by the time the deal closed) for a company in order to get a deal with another company that will place an icon representing your service in their product so that there is a possibility that a user of their product will decide to click on your icon and then decide to subscribe to your service. Especially when that other company already has its own service (MSN) that directly competes with yours and has its own icon featured just as prominently.
"They do make it as hard as possible to cancel. Not only do they make you dial a special cancellations number, which is not published, and barely staffed, they also put the poor saps that work that particular line in a very tough spot - they are supposed to talk you out of cancelling, and if they cancel too many accounts in a day they will be fired. They get bonuses for NOT cancelling - even though they're answering a line that is for cancellations only, and one where the simple fact that the customer has the number to dial indicates they've already waded through a lot of shit to get there, so they're pretty determined."
I actually used this to my advantage. During a really bad few work months, I was forced to give up my regular ISP, and those free AOL CD's started looking pretty good. I signed up, intending to cancel after the free trial. Lo and behold, at the end of the trial period, I received a bill for a month's service. I called up the customer service droid to complain loudly, and was offered apologies and another month of free service, which I accepted. The next month, another bill came, and I repeated the cycle. This ended up going on for well over half a year. Of course, I never actually USED AOL. I just established the connection, then fired up my regular utilities. End result: seven months' free internet with a loss to the Forces of Satan of some $170.00 or so. Fairly played, I think.
They thought that their ciustomers wern't in enought pain all ready?
:P
I smell a conspiracy, maybe its a favor getting returned for the AOL link on every desktop
GPLv2: I want my rights, I want my phone call! DRM: What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"Think of the Internet as a Highway." There it is again. Some clueless fool talking about the "Information Superhighway." They don't know didley about the net. It's nothing like a superhighway. That's a rotten metaphor. Suppose the metaphor ran in the other direction. Suppose the highways were like the net. . . A highway hundreds of lanes wide. Most with pitfalls for potholes. Privately operated bridges and overpasses. No highway patrol. A couple of rent-a-cops on bicycles with broken whistles. 500 member vigilante posses with nuclear weapons. A minimum of 237 on ramps at every intersection. No signs. Wanna get to Ensenada? Holler out the window at a passing truck to ask directions. Ad hoc traffic laws. Some lanes would vote to make use by a single-occupant- vehicle a capital offense on Monday through Friday between 7:00 and 9:00. Other lanes would just shoot you without a trial for talking on a car phone. AOL would be a giant diesel-smoking bus with hundreds of ebola victims on board throwing dead wombats and rotten cabbage at the other cars, most of which have been assembled at home from kits. Some are built around 2.5 horsepower lawnmower engines with a top speed of nine miles an hour. Others burn nitrogylcerin and idle at 120. No license plates. World War II bomber nose art instead. Terrifying paintings of huge teeth or vampire eagles. Bumper mounted machine guns. Flip somebody the bird on this highway and get a white phosphorus grenade up your tailpipe. Flatbed trucks cruise around with anti-aircraft missile batteries to shoot down the traffic helicopter. Little kids on tricycles with squirtguns filled with hydrochloric acid switch lanes without warning. NO OFFRAMPS. None. Now that's the way to run an Interstate Highway system.
I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
When they ask why you're leaving the country, tell 'em, "To get away from AOL!"
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Kinda ironic that in July 2003 AOL made a $2million donation to the Mozilla Foundation, and now their releasing an IE-based browser. Why not base it on either Firefox or the Gecko rendering engine?
"With Microsoft, you get Windows. With Linux, you get the full house" - unknown
What have you lost in OOo that you have in Mozilla? Who has taken something from you?
Get a grip
Author, Shell Scripting : Expert Re
What could be better? Someone that doesn't know what they are doing... Using a browser that doesn't know how to protect the user. There is a god; He just doesn't like stupid people :^)
My wife doesn't listen to me either...
Do the licenses of Mozilla and Netscape allow AOL to use developments in Mozilla for proprietary software? I'm not too clear on the specifics of how open source developments in Mozilla are migrated over to proprietary distributions of Netscape, if they actually are.
But if AOL has licensed Internet Explorer from Microsoft, then perhaps the deal includes the sharing of proprietary code both ways. If Mozilla code can become proprietary for AOL under the project's licensing scheme, then they could possibly pass it on to Microsoft. Microsoft could end up using developments for Mozilla for Internet Explorer to deal with all its current security issues under a closed source license. That could be the whole reason for this deal.
they are supposed to talk you out of cancelling, and if they cancel too many accounts in a day they will be fired. They get bonuses for NOT cancelling - even though they're answering a line that is for cancellations only
Well then, why don't we put the number on here? Random people could phone up and pretend to be convinced not to cancel... everyone wins!
Michael
"Goodness me, how unlike the FBI to abuse the trust of the American public." -- The Onion
My dad is a real character and loves to mess with people on the telephone. More on that in a minute. The family has had an AOL account for seven years now, and the last three years no one has used it much. Dad has broadband, and my sisters have moved out and gotten their own Internet access, though they still use the e-mail and IM accounts. However, he's remained an AOL subscriber because they simply will not let him cancel.
First off, they make it very difficult to find the phone number to unsubscribe. They want you to talk to a rep in an AOL chatroom so you can watch the AOL software suddenly barf all manner of whizbang new features on your screen. Like Athena springing from the forehead of Zeus, improved Instant Messaging Capabilities suddenly emerge from the dark recesses of AOL 9.0. How cool is that? say the hard sell salespeople. You decide to keep it for a few months to explore all the new features AOL has to offer. It's optimized now, you know.
However, we have the secret digits that will put us in contact with a real live person. That's because I put up with thirty minutes of annoying AOL popups (A/S/L? A/S/L? A/S/L?) and intentionally poorly-designed navigation to find it. That was nine months ago. Whenever my dad calls to cancel, they give him a ten minute sales pitch, then offer him a few months for free. Since my sisters don't want to go through the hassle of registering for free e-mail and Instant Messager accounts, he consents. When AOL decides to bill his credit card six weeks later, we go through the same elaborate dance.
But not this time. My dad decided to cancel for good. He called the secret number and talked to a customer service representative, whom I'll call Jennifer. Mostly because I don't remember her real name, but also because I like the name Jennifer. It reminds me of Larry Appleton's girlfriend on Perfect Strangers, and she was one classy dame. Ahh, Jennifer, mon amor! Je veux baiser votre main! Um, I digress. Anyway, Customer Service Rep Jennifer spent ten minutes trying to convince him that AOL was Better! Than! Ever!!! If he stayed on, Snoop Dogg and Jerry Stiller would come party with him. He could put them on his Buddy List, which he could now access on his cell phone.
My dad remained calm and told them that he did not own a computer anymore.
They informed him that that wasn't a problem,: they'd give him a computer.
Okay... That's when my dad rolled out the big guns. He didn't need a computer, he explained, because he'd gotten rid of the old one for religious reasons. He was sick of decadent, sinful "English" society and was moving to farm country to live with the Amish. Yea, verily he would have no electricity for their Internet-ready computer, or cell phone IM's, or anything like that. He wanted to ride a buggy, not surf AOL 9.0 Optimized.
Jennifer was nonplussed, since nobody resisted the siren call of free service and Snoop Doggy Dogg. She put Dad on hold while she got her manager to set him straight. My dad reiterated that he wanted to cancel, he had no computer and did not want one, he was moving to farm country to live with the Amish. Would Snoop help churn butter, would Jerry Stiller help raise a barn? Nay, he thought not. Eventually the manager gave in and agreed to cancel the account.
However, he asked, since Dad was so religious, perhaps America Online could offer him a Great Deal on a church website?
Heathen! Thou art truly clueless, and will surely burn in hell. Click.
--All your stolen base are belong to Rickey Henderson