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AOL Updates: Standalone Browser, Search, VoIP
Eric writes "In the face of increasing pressure from the likes of Google and MSN, America Online has opened beta testing for its standalone AOL Browser and Desktop Search to anyone with an AOL or AIM screen name. The AOL Browser beta utilizes Microsoft's Internet Explorer engine (not Firefox's, like Netscape) and integrates the company's Desktop Search client. Unlike Netscape it looks decent from the screenshots and also includes some nifty features like tear-off tabs and zooming." And prostoalex writes "In what could be the biggest VOIP push into US households, AOL will start offering VOIP services, as reported by Light Reading. 28% of online Americans subscribe to dial-up or broadband version of AOL, AOL has 4 million broadband users, and beta testers in the Light Reading article seemed to be pretty happy with the service."
Me too!
The unholy combination of IE and AOL made pretty? ...it always puzzled me why they bought Netscape and never made it their browser...
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
Too bad AOL did away with newsgroups, unlike Google...
"Nature bats last..."
is just the same as the time-warner VoIP product that's been on the market for several months, under a different brand. Nothing new, really.
And Vonage works with Time-Warner as well. So there aren't as many VoIP vendors as you assume there are.
An unstable release of what will be an unstable browser.
This is another way of starting a sig with this and ending it with that.
Every time I see how AOL's browser is based on Internet Explorer, I can't help but imagine the meeting in a few years where AOL will have to license the technonogy again.
The meeting ends with a line from Microsoft sounding somthing like "One Trilllion Dollars," then maniaical super villan laugh.
Will their VOIP work with anything else?
Because if it's AOL-only, it's not going to catch on with most of the world (or even 72% of the USA)...
"Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."
Anyone know if they've commented on this?
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Notice how there's an ad for Vonage right underneath the article? Priceless.
eTrade SUCKS
God yes, AOL + /. + geeks!
Another reason to use bold.
I'm building a roof for my cubicle.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
From: http://beta.aol.com/aolbrowser/index.html?
Desktop Search: Now you can find files, photos, songs, pictures and other files on your computer's hard drive just as easily as you search the Web. And you don't even have to leave your Web browser to do it.
Tabbed Browsing: Keep tabs on your Internet experience! The new AOL Browser uses convenient tabs to help organize all your open browser windows, so you can quickly switch back and forth among multiple Web sites, easily finding--and getting to--the one you want.
Clear My Footprints: Whether you like it or not, your computer keeps track of everywhere you go online. But the new AOL Browser helps protect your privacy and stop snoops with just one click. Quickly and easily clear your Internet history, cookies, caches and more. You can even choose exactly which footprints you want to clear--making sure you erase what you want, when you want.
Thumbnail Previews: Now you can save time by viewing actual mini-previews of Web pages, instead of trying to decipher misleading URLs. Simply hold the mouse over any item in your history or favorites, or over any open browser tabs, and you'll be able to see where you're going--before you even get there.
I fear that the average user will think that the way AOL impliments VoIP and Desktop serching, is as good as it gets.
I fear AOL won't do a great job (suprise!) and people will think "VoIP sucks! I tried it with AOL and it never worked right!"
Then, they might shy away from other VoIP services that are great.
Pretty Pictures!
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
Does it strike anyone else as odd that AOL does almost everything they possibly can to *not* add market value to one of their best known brands?
You'd think with the amount of cash AOL has on hand, and with the entire marketplace suddenly beginning to question whether or not IE is worth the trouble... they'd slap some of the dust of Netscape and breathe some life into it. No?
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
In the middle of your call... "Goodbye"
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
What percentage of AOL users were Bush voters?
It is bad enough that somebody is watching your every keystroke. Now, AOL will allow anybody to listen on your conversation as well by integrating this with MSIE.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
AOL is coming out with a standalone browser?
This doesn't have anything to do with Google register gbrowser.com, does it?
What's next, a Microsoft browser? Jeez.
www.kiwilyrics.com - a wiki for lyrics
How could it be standalone when it uses the (already installed, I guess) Internet Explorer rendering engine?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
I think that AOL will have to do something that hasn't been done before in order to gain back the web dominance they once had.
Making a browser with zoom and tab features has been done before. VOIP is also available elswhere, while this might satisfy their current customers, I dont see them drawing in a significant amount of new users with it.
WoW: Scheod 70 orc warlock on Shadowmoon
did any one notice how the screenshot's example page had articles up that were highly favorable to internet explorer and microsoft? some sort of subliminal attempts at converting over fools i suppose.
"but money is the God of Algiers & Mahomet their prophet." - Rich. O'Bryen June 8th 1786
Not again I am tired of getting all those crappie cds from AOL. They are just costars! As for IE and AOL together just one question. What the heck? It's a nice idea to have a stand alone browser but AOL come on. They are venturing to the dark side.
"Reaction to the service from beta testers is mixed, based on user posts to Broadband Reports and other message boards."
How does that equate to happy?
I wonder how many people AOL will get to subscribe to VoIP services using their 56K dial-up connection?
So, I'm not using Windows too much these days, but looking at that screenshot I couldn't help noticing the ugly-ass fonts on the menus. Is that still par for the course on Windows XP these days? Are Windows users going to have to wait for Avalon before they can get decent fonts on their desktop? I mean, even my ancient Red Hat 9 desktop looks better than that.
Netscape is not based off firefox sorry.... Mozilla and Netscape are more closely related, Mozilla came from Netscape and Netscape has since then adopted some of Mozilla's stuff. Firefox is a fresh completely re-done browser... Just to clear that up
I haven't gotten any of those funky multicolored coasters in the mail for a while, I hope this means that AOL will start sending them out again!
They're using the Netscape brand to push an ISP that competes directly with NetZero.
as a beta-tester for aol-voip: something aol has done well, there voip service ain't bad, ideally it should stand well to mass usage
Perhaps they just chose IE to prevent their Army Of Lamers overflooding the Netscape Support forums.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
As far as I know AOL owned Netscape and funded Mozilla development. Then MS paid them large amounts of money that they continue to support their IE Engine. It was a multimillion deal. A real payoff for open source investment that secures independence. As some economists told us monopolies are not that bad as long as there is the option of antoher player to enter the market and take it over. It is really funny to see MS paying for IE usage.
It looks like another app that introduces its own inconsistant look with the rest of the sytem, just like media player does, winamp, or any other app which has a skin fetish. How this can be described as decent is beyond me.
...but hot grits would have been better than mud, IMHO.
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
For leverage against Microsoft.
They don't want to fight the IE-only sites with either development resources or educational resources.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
can i bookmark my favorite virii?
Why do you use tearoffs without an MDI? (yes, I'm too lazy to look at the screenshots to see if it uses an MDI.)
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
They bought it for the Netscape brand and the netscape.com portal to aquire more customers for their advertising business. The Netscape Browser wasn't on the top of their wishlist at all. Maybe Netscape allowed AOL to hedge their bets in the grand MSN vs AOL battle, and they probably used the browser while negotiating with Microsoft. But really, in 1998, Netscape 4.x was really starting to suck in comparison to IE.
Here was Steve Case's case for the purchase. Notice how he doesn't mention 'browser':
"Netscape's brand, portal, and people will help turn the promise of electronic commerce into reality," said AOL chief executive Steve Case in a conference call.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
I found it interesting that on the screenshot, 3 or the 4 artilces shown were pro-MS.
The first, "Gates Promises Interoperable Software" which shows how MS will start writing software that work on other OSes.
The second, talks about how MS is starting a new offensive on piracy, pushing its Genuine Advantage program. If you have a valid MS License, you can get rebates and other perks.
The third, "Spoofing flaw found in non-IE browsers" Pretty much speaks for itself.
Interesting, no? We've always known or suspected AOL and MS were bed-partners but its not likely that they did that without first consulting MS. Could the new battleground be MS/AOL vs Linux/Netscape (assuming Netscape doesnt fux0r everything again).
rooooar
I want AOL to start distributing their software/etc. in those AOL tins that they used to use, least 'round here. Very handy for keeping certain things in. :)
Here's the tin if you don't know what it looks like. But I don't use it for a survival kit, or at least that's not what I would call it's primary function. Come to think of it, nuking some of those AOL CDs could prove fun on those rainy days.
"We invented personal computing." - Bill Gates
We've lacked tear-off tabs in all kinds of applications for a decade because USPTO gave Adobe a patent on it and they've gone after companies who infringe on it.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Ever heard of MSN?
Uhh, Netscape is not based on Firefox. Back many ages ago, Netscape donated a bunch of code that became the Mozilla project, spawning many many projects, most notably Seamonkey, (original mozilla suite) Firefox, and Thunderbird. I think that Netscape may have started using a heavily branded version of Seamonkey a while ago, but I'm pretty sure that it wasn't Firefox. As we all know, Firefox has only gone 1.0 only a few months ago.
Shameless self promotion
September in VOIPland. And no, it'll never end. (Sorry;)
put the what in the where?
So, I don't know if it's just me, but this lock-in with IE just gets on my nerves. For years I have been getting phone calls from the parents asking for help because they got another freakin' virus, trojan, spyware etc. on their machine because of this freakin' browser. So, I got them to start using Mozilla, for what I thought was exclusively. Now, they use AOL all the time with that damned browser in it. Yes, they have XP SP2, an external firewall. But we all know that it means nothing when you invite the stuff into your home. So, they won't buy a Mac. They won't even consider linux. How the heck can I protect these people? Well, I guess AOL will be doing a great job at promoting their anti-virus/anti-adware/anti-trojan ect. tools because they, again, promote the freakin' tool that is the root cause of these problems. Pretty funny when you think about it. I think Semantec/McAfee/whomever should distribute their own "version" of IE so they can help keep themselves in the loop too. I just wish there was a way to stop someone from distributing such blatently dangerous code to the world (our parents and children). Again, just annoyed. Someone mentioned earlier "Why did AOL buy Netscape"? I haven't a clue. Probably because M$ wanted them to. But, that is just a conspiracy theory.
...so do you think AOL will be pushing VOIP to their 56k (or less) dialup users? What a nightmare!
/just kidding
I Think AOL and M$ could make a very funny, yet very sad program... The active spread of virus via the phone.
Just using a Windows box is bad enough as to how easily they get infected with spyware and the like.
Looks like just another all-hype app that will be just suck (its AOL, the king of giving you shit that you do not want)
Well, what can i say? it uses the IE engine (the one embedded on windows, of course, so it's not "standalone" as they claim it to be) so from a security point of view is useless, so i'm sorry tech support guys, you'll continue to get calls from people with spyware and viruses problems. On the other hand, this thing is really easy to use and it looks great on every aspect. I don't know if you have noticed that there's a plus sign on the top left-hand corner, which can be used to open a new tab.
If you are looking for eye candy and ease of use, download it, it won't let you down. But beware, remember that it uses the IE engine so be careful when you browse.
Now, the bad thing about it is that there is no option to disable the installation of the desktop search feature, i already have google desktop and i didn't want it to get installed on my system.
From a developer's point of view, it's nothing more than a visual basic application with nifty graphics branded by AOL, but i have to admit that i love the theme. Too bad they didn't use gecko, i don't know why they bought netscape after all.
I have never met anyone below the age of 30 that knows anything about computers at all that just assumes that AOL is as good as it gets. In fact, I don't even know anyone in the under 25 age group that would even find any appeal to an AOL browser. Firefox is already exploding in marketshare among the under 25 population if my college is any indication. Besides, AIM is already free and so you don't need to buy AOL's service to do all of the things that AOL is "good for."
AOL really is only good for people who can't be bothered to learn anything about the Internet and soccer moms who want "parental controls."
Click here or a puppy gets stomped!
AOL was required to open up its instant messaging as a condition of the merger, which they obviously have not done. For the benefit of everyone else, please try to file a complaint so we can stop this.
I was trying to see where it was downloading from, netstat -n, when it showed this ip http://12.158.80.10/ What are all those files? Is this an AOL server?
"Desktop Search: Now you can find files, photos, songs, pictures and other files on your computer's hard drive just as easily as you search the Web. And you don't even have to leave your Web browser to do it." Ever tried Start/Find/Files or Folders? Been here since Win95. "Tabbed Browsing: Keep tabs on your Internet experience! The new AOL Browser uses convenient tabs to help organize all your open browser windows, so you can quickly switch back and forth among multiple Web sites, easily finding--and getting to--the one you want." Mozilla, Firefox, Avant Browser (IE), among numerous others offer this. "Clear My Footprints: Whether you like it or not, your computer keeps track of everywhere you go online. But the new AOL Browser helps protect your privacy and stop snoops with just one click. Quickly and easily clear your Internet history, cookies, caches and more. You can even choose exactly which footprints you want to clear--making sure you erase what you want, when you want." Try SnapFiles.com (formerly WebAttack), they have tons of privacy tools, in both Freeware and Shareware. "Thumbnail Previews: Now you can save time by viewing actual mini-previews of Web pages, instead of trying to decipher misleading URLs. Simply hold the mouse over any item in your history or favorites, or over any open browser tabs, and you'll be able to see where you're going--before you even get there." Haha. Just like browsing your favorites folder in Windows 98. Ever notice that little preview panel will also show webpages? Conclusion: AOL is once again offering regurgitated crap, hyped up with marketing to blind 'Joe L User' from seeing that it's *nothing new*!
Windows has detected an undetectable error.
It has some pretty nifty features...and some rather strange ones as well. Tabbed browsing(although you have to right click a link and select in the menu "Open in new tab") Thumbnails previews for each tab. Just hover your mouse over a tab and you'll get a a mini shot of it. And surprisingly i dodn't notice a spike in resources when i did this. The Sidebar isn't half bad and it's removable. I could see how this is useful. As far as the desktop search is concerned it doesn't give you an oppertunity to NOT install this. But unlike most people i have actually went through the settings in the browser and found you can disable this feature all together. One thing i noticed is that it has Adding/Removing of files from the index in rela time. Unlike Google/Msn(yahoo? i dun think yahoo does this either). So thats a plus, but i'lls tick with MSN Desktop Search(it just works well! no flamage please) Anyhow it's not half bad. Although the mere fact that it uses IE engine measn instant removal as soon as i am done playing.
And "In the face of increasing pressure from the likes of Google and MSN, America Online" has, just in the last couple of days, begun refusing email from mail servers that don't have matching reverse DNS entries, thus cutting off its subscribers from the growing number of small and medium businesses using fixed IP cable or DSL Internet service. It's nice to have matching reverse DNS and it's fastidious in an Internet purist sense, but it's in no way necessary. I host thirteen domains on fixed IP cable Internet and am instituting an SMTP block that will bounce email from the aol.com domain with a message advising senders that due to new AOL policies we cannot reply or send them email, so we recommend they drop AOL and get a real ISP. AOL is its own punishment and it's fitting that they are constricting the world in which their clueless subscribers can operate. AOL deserves to go bust and have its assets sold on eBay.
Look at the bright side: there's always seppuku.
Where can I get one of tohse?
Awesome! When I woke up this morning I thought to myself - you know, I'd really like ANOTHER fucking browser.
i'd rather kill myself than use an aol browser
"includes some nifty features like tear-off tabs and zooming."
it's like. er. something very cool/new ?
opera has this for ages - isn't this a standard feature in browsers ?
Rich
This is the first browser I have seen that makes the back button bigger, as suggested by usability experts, because it is the most user button.
Did anyone else notice the choice of screenshot? The prominent news items in the view:
Gates Promises Interoperable Software
Spoofing Flaw Found in Non-IE Browsers
MSN Counters iTunes With Free Songs
And a featured story about Microsoft Genuine Advantage Program
I know the market is Microsoft-heavy, but wow.
Please stop stalking me, bro.
I have an AOL screen name, but :
OS Support: Windows 2000/2003/9x/XP
Requirements: Internet Explorer 6.0+
Oh yeah. I forgot. I'm noone.