AOL Desktop v.10.1 launches; new features
Posted Aug 13th 2008 11:01PM by Laura Peterson
Filed under: Member Education, Announcements, AOL Desktop
AOL Desktop version 10.1 officially launched on Tuesday! It's available for download on Discover AOL.
You'll find more desktop themes and colors, enhancements to the Favorites and Address Book layout, and improvements in speed and stability in AOL Desktop v.10.1.
I'll go into more depth on Favorites and Address Book in the next few articles. Right now, I want to show you how to make AOL Desktop all your own.
Personalizations: With the Personalize menu in AOL Desktop v. 10.1, you can choose themes, customize the software with any color you want, apply your own personal photos to the background, and even set up a rotating photo slideshow.
Whenever you make changes inside the "Personalize" menu, your selections will be previewed in the software in real time.
Themes: Right-click on the background of AOL Desktop with your mouse to bring up the "Personalize" menu. This will bring you into the "theme" area, where you can select stock themes or modify and store your own.
Appearance: This is where you can change the color of the software using a number of pre-set colors. Or, select "custom" to launch the Windows color chooser to choose from even more colors.
Background: This area lets you select photos from your computer which you can apply to your background or background slideshow. Tip: don't browse to a folder that has too many photos because this will slow your software down. Ideally, set up a separate folder with the pictures you really want to use.
Preview: Finally, even though you'll see your changes applied in the software in real time, you can see a demo of your customizations by clicking on the "Preview" tab.
(By the way, that's a lavender field near Snowshill in Gloucestershire, England.)
Check out AOL Desktop version 10.1 and have fun making the software look exactly how you want. Stay tuned for my new articles on the Address Book and Favorites.
Cheers,
Laura
_____
Laura Peterson
Product Lead, AOL Desktop 
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Terrie is the lead product manager on the AOL Desktop Affinity software. Terrie works to define new views of Desktop. Like the Asylum Desktop and LemonDrop Desktop. Take a look, they are neat!
Summer is a Sr. Manager for AOL Member Communications. While she has no ties directly to the product development team, she has been a contributor to many AOL blogs over the last few years and is excited to bring a non-product team perspective to the Desktop blog.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1. Though your article on the 10.1 release has some interesting points (improvements in speed and stability are welcome!), it would appear to miss some key things. As noted at http://cws.internet.com/file/37542.htm there are some pros and cons, as there always is, that your readers should be aware of for the new release. The quad pane appears to take a lot of screen space and as the referenced web article points out "It's too complicated for the novice user, and just too annoying and nonsencsical for the sophisticated user." Ease of overall use and associated practicality and effeciency would appear to be another concern. I will wait before I consider an 'upgrade' to the new version.
Posted at 11:41AM on Aug 16th 2008 by martychgo
2. What quad pane?
OpenRide had a quad pane, Nexus does not.
AOL Desktop 10.1 is great and there was alot of work done by the Desktop team to solve problems that many of us were having.
My congrats to them for a job well done and I look forward to the next round of beta testing for AOL desktop.
Posted at 1:48PM on Aug 17th 2008 by SBSBJB
3. Hi Marty,
The internet.com link you reference contains some old and inaccurate material -- OpenRide, which featured quadpane, is an all-in-one software version which AOL released in 2006.
AOL Desktop uses the same OCP codebase as OpenRide, but is essentially a very different program. There is no quadpane view in Desktop, among other things. AOL Desktop follows the traditional "MDI" (multiple child windows within a parent container) approach to windows that other AOL software, like AOL 9.1, utilize. It also has a static toolbar which enhances navigation to the core functionality, content, and quickviews. The browser, mail, and AIM interfaces have been extensively improved, particularly mail which allows you to easily add and check multiple email accounts (even GMail and Verizon), which appear as separate tabs in the same window.
Thanks for sending in that link -- we'll make sure Internet.com / WinPlanet update their content.
Cheers,
Laura
Posted at 4:05PM on Aug 17th 2008 by Laura Peterson
4. Is there a complete file download available? I have high speed but want to save and install on a dial-up system. The current download appears to be a download program, rather than a real installer.
Posted at 9:38PM on Aug 17th 2008 by rickj
5. bring back unsend!
Posted at 8:51AM on Aug 29th 2008 by whitscript
6. How can I turn off ALL the sounds & also get AIM from starting up in 10.1? Control panel sound is set to "none" yet I still get those irritating "you got mail" & good bye. And why does AIM have to auto start?? I don't want it to & the instructions to stop it aren't clear to me.
You finally added bcc but bring back "unsend"
Thanx.
Posted at 7:23PM on Sep 20th 2008 by Bob
7. Bob, you can't turn off the sounds in Desktop 10.1.
It has been requested and maybe 1 day will be added.
There is no way to stop AIM from opening, it is part of the program. If you don't want it, then after you sign on, close the eye on your Buddy List to go invisible and then X out of the Buddy List.
BCC has been back for awhile, but Unsend is available on AOL 9.1.
Posted at 9:19PM on Sep 21st 2008 by SBSBJB
8. Just wondering if this new AOL Desktop 10.1 is fully compatible with Windows Vista 64 bit. I have a friend who did not have any problem with it while using Windows XP but after upgrading his OS to Vista 64 bit, he can no longer sign on to AOL Desktop 10.1. After typing the screen name and password and clicking the Sign on button, nothing. He uninstalled and reinstalled and still nothing.
Posted at 4:37PM on Sep 23rd 2008 by fox2lima
9. I have Vista 64 bit and AOL Desktop 10.1 and have no problems with it, BUT it's a new computer and I did NOT upgrade my OS.
Posted at 5:34PM on Sep 25th 2008 by SBSBJB
10. SBSBJB,
Thanx for the reply. My 9.1 s/w does not have bcc, only cc when I write a note. I really like the 10.1 d/t, but the sounds & AIM auto start are deal breakers for me. Also, recently I keep getting a note to upgrade my 9.1 s/w when I close it, but it doesn't tell me what the upgrade is. Even MS tells you what the upgrade is, so you can decide if you want to install it.
Posted at 1:38PM on Sep 30th 2008 by Bob
11. I by accident upgraded to Aol 10.1 today now I can't send email- I get error message I am not signed on or else error message it cannot connect to POP 3-- I am only a beginner computer person what can I do now? HELP
Posted at 5:01PM on Oct 10th 2008 by GLause
12. I don't want 10.1. How can I remove the 'do you want to install' screen so it doesn't pop up when I'm signing off?
thank you
anitagold@aol.com
Posted at 1:12AM on Oct 19th 2008 by anita
13. I've recently bought a new HP desktop. Today I installed AOL v10.1 but the problem is, when I login, my email has an error "Failed to connect with IMAP server". I am using my AOL email and AOL can't seem to find itself??? How do I correct this?
Posted at 9:44PM on Nov 4th 2008 by TA