AOL 9.0
AOL 9.0 has added many new features. These are useful elements, but only if you know that they are available and understand how to set up and use them. Here are some of the main features and how to take advantage of them.
The first and the most noticeable feature is the customizable Welcome Screen. You can select from six Welcome screen tool sets: Business, News & Sports, Entertainment, Online fun & Resources, The Basics for Being Online, Family Life, AOL for Small Business and AOL Latino. To change these options click on the small "change this screen" text on the bottom left side of the Welcome screen. After you choose the Tool set you want to use, click on "Next Step" to make more choices. Based on your Welcome screen preferences a new Quick Start guide to AOL content will appear on the left side of the Welcome screen. You can also choose other content like weather, horoscopes, news, sports, travel, movie listings, etc. You Buddy List window will appear on the right side of the Welcome screen. You will also see icons for other features like AOL Mail, Radio, Video, and Pictures.
AOL has built-in spam filters. To use these filters effectively, it is necessary that you take part in the setup of the filters. You can do so at AOL Keyword: Spam Controls. Once your Spam filters are set up, all e-mail suspected to be spam will be put into your "Spam Folder". This folder is accessible by clicking on "Spam Folder" at the bottom of your mailbox screen. You will want to occasionally look through your spam folder as sometimes, good e-mail is inadvertently thrown in with the spam. At AOL Keyword: Pop-Up Controls, you can turn on the Web Pop-Up Controls option to cut down on annoying pop-ups. You can choose between seeing pop-ups if you like, or not at all. Virus information can be found by typing in Keyword: Anti-virus Center.
AOL Communicator was introduced in AOL 9.0. The Communicator puts together e-mail, instant messaging, and the AOL address book into one integrated application. The Communicator also includes Radio@AOL for Broadband (Keyword: Radio) and the new My AOL Today where you can tailor content to your interests. Communicator is a free service, but you must download the software to take advantage of it. Just enter AOL Keyword: Communicator to see a demo and to download Communicator.
AOL Computer Check-up is software that can test the health of your PC. It can report problems and in some cases, automatically repair them. Enter AOL Keyword: Computer Check Up to download the Computer Check-Up. The download takes only 1-2 minutes on a dial-up connection and a few seconds on a broadband connection. AOL 9.0 also has a library of auto-fixes for some of the most common computer problems. These can be found at Keyword: Fix It for Me.
AOL 9.0 has improved their help systems quite extensively. Again, you just have to know where to look to get the help you need. Here are a few of your options: Live Help will let you chat with an AOL representative. Keyword: Live Help. Another keyword: Tell Me How, gives you information on common problems and simple steps you can try to resolve the problem. Broadband users can get help at Keyword: Broadband Help.
It is worth upgrading to AOL 9 just for the improved E-mail. A new, much-needed Mailbox design has been introduced. With this design you can use the Manage Mail tab to view all of your e-mail whether it's on your PC or stored on AOL's servers. You can now save 20MB of storage per screen name. There are new sorting and filtering options. You can now use the Manage Mail tab to view all your mail in one place. The new Quickview allows you to see your most recent mail sorted by subject or sender by simply rolling you cursor over the Mailbox icon. The fact that the name of an attached file shows below the e-mail is an enormous improvement that makes it much easier to simply click to open the attachment. Embedded e-mail photos are automatically compressed with version 9.0. Before you e-mail a photo you can also use the new Photo Editor tool to crop, brighten and perform other simple adjustments. Just double-click on the photo to bring up the Edit Picture options.
You'll also find many smaller enhancements in AOL 9.0. With a webcam and microphone, Instant Messaging can now accommodate face-to-face video clips. Sharing pictures and music is easier.
AOL 9.0 has enhanced built in Parental Controls (AOL Keyword: Parental Controls) to manage and monitor your child's online experience. You can use AOL Guardian to receive e-mail after each child's AOL session. There is also an online time, which you can use to limit the amount of the time that your children or grandchildren spend online.
On the fun side, AOL 9.0 has You've Got Pictures where you can share photos with family and friends online even if you don't' have a digital camera. Don't miss Keyword: Expressions, where you can choose from an expanded variety of icons, wallpaper patterns, sounds, and smileys. There are also adorable 3-D Super Buddy icons. For instance when you type LOL, your Super Buddy icon laughs out loud with both sound and animation. AOL Keyword: Super Buddy
If you are interested in blogging, be sure to check out AOL Journals at Keyword: Journal. Although AOL calls it journaling, it is really Internet blogging where you can publish your own blog and add a thought or picture at anytime. You can update your blog by instant messaging and a new tool is planned that will allow users to update their blog by phone when it is inconvenient to fill out a journal form on a Web page. The phone update will have an additional fee.
If you are on AOL 9.0 Broadband you also might enjoy the latest news, sports and entertainment in video format. AOL Keyword: Video. Also for broadband users, be sure to check out the weekly concert series and live online concerts at Keyword: Broadband Rocks.
As you use AOL 9.0 you will see that the emphasis is on specialized content. This content is put under the AOL umbrella so you don't have to search for it all over the Web. Many find that this type of centralized content enhances their Web experience.