Hi everyone! We have a new AOL client beta available and we welcome input. We actually beg for input! However, you should know that this one is different from AOL Desktop in that it is based off a "Classic" view. (Read "Classic" as waol.exe style experience.)

Please consider taking a look. Click HERE to start the download process.

Thanks again,

Kevin


The following is taken from: http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=aolclassic

The AOL Desktop Client team is pleased to announce the release of AOL Classic Beta.

In this latest beta release of AOL's 9.x family of all-in-one internet software, you'll find a significant new feature - tabbed browsing. We've been asked by many of you to add this, as it really makes web browsing more convenient than ever before.

While this release focuses on adoption of tabbed browsing, we're also performing a fare bit of housecleaning on the menus, with much of this effort to more accurately reflect our current AOL product catalog; along with removing several redundant items.

System requirements for AOL Classic beta

* Windows Vista, XP
* Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
* 166 MHz Pentium-class processor or higher
* 128MB RAM, 460MB free disk space
* 28.8 Kbps or faster modem, or other Internet connection

This will be a short development cycle, so as we're fast approaching the release date, we really encourage you to use the software actively and in this beta, to focus on exercising the tabbed browsing experience. As always, we want you to use the Feedback form to report issues you find.

Since this beta will coexist along side your current AOL client, please make sure you to launch the beta application when testing as much as possible.

You know when you use something over and over, and sometimes you forget how useful it is because it's just part of your daily routine? For me, over the last month or so, I've been using a little icon in middle of the Desktop Toolbar. It was titled "Elections 08" and it took me directly to election news coverage. I used it all the time.

As I've stated in previous posts, I hate extra clicks -- and unless there happened to be an election link on the Welcome Screen, it would take me couple clicks to get to the Election page. A couple of clicks would mean that I probably wouldn't go. So, when I first saw that Elections promotional spot I was thrilled. Not only could I get to Elections in one click, but that little icon was also located in an incredibly convenient place. It served as a daily reminder to get the latest updates. Every day it was like "oh, look – there's that election icon," and I would remember to check out what wacky antics the politicians were up to. In fact, now that it's gone, I kind of miss it. That promotional spot turned me into an election junkie and now I'm in withdrawal. Did you notice I hadn't posted a blog in a few weeks? How am I going to procrastinate now?

From what I've heard, that promotional spot is primarily used to inform people about AOL coverage of timely events. Before the Elections, it was used to promote the Emmys, Olympics, Fall TV, among others. There's going to be one coming up for Thanksgiving which will be a handy reminder for things like finding recipes before the holidays (which already reminds me, I have to make a side dish...)

Now, it's your turn -- what did you think? Did you like it? Hate it? Use it? What do you need a handy reminder about? What would you like to see promoted there?

Thanks in advance for your feedback!

2. Using my.aol.com
If the Setup Wizard gave you an error (e.g. "unable to import favorites") or you feel only a partial group of favorites was brought over, try going to my.aol.com and import your Favorite Places there. This usually kicks AOL Desktop into completing its migration, or "synching" with the host successfully. (What's happening? Well, there are two favorites databases: an old one used by AOL 9.0 and AOL 9.1, and a new one used by AOL Desktop. We need the two to talk to one another.)

You may need to sign out of AOL Desktop then sign back in to see the full results.

Full Instructions for trying the my.aol.com route can be found in this earlier blog post:
http://desktopblog.aol.com/2008/02/21/test-your-aol-favorites-import-functionality/

3. If you get stuck, we can help
If you're still having problems, please open up your old software and send us the error logs. Here's how you do that (see the screenshot, too):

1. Open up AOL 9.0 / AOL 9.1 (you don't need to sign on)
   
2. Click the "Help" menu at the top and choose "About AOL"
3. With the "About AOL" screen open, press and hold "CTRL" and press "E" (CTRL+E). This will open up all the error messages, including Favorites synching issues. (Favorites synch issues will have "FP" in the error comment.)
   
4. Select the text in the Error Messages window, then copy and paste it into an email.
5. Send the error message to "DesktopHelp265 (at) aol.com". (This email address will be monitored by me and a few other AOL employees, and you may get a response asking for some more information about your Favorites.)

Good luck!

Thank you for your help!

Laura

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Laura Peterson
Product Lead, AOL Desktop