Does AOL 5.0 run slower or have any problems?

Question

I downloaded AOL 5.0 and it has pulled down my Resources. Have they had a

lot of bugs in this new version? I have an HP and they have helped me

resolve the problem some. I am now just going back to using AOL 4.0!

-Dolores

Answer

This question was answered on November 1, 1999. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

AOL 5.0 is the latest and greatest version of the proprietary software that

AOL users have installed on their computers in order to be part of the AOL

community. AOL has put many improvements into the 5.0 version that include

the following:

-Up to 7 screen names (instead of 5) that can now be up to 16 characters

long (up from 10)

-"My Calendar" a free web based calendar program

-"One Click" access to many of your favorite items such as news, movie

listing, weather, sports, etc.

-New e-mail functionality including the ability to view photos right from

your e-mail, adding signatures to the end of your messages and up to 24

hours to recover deleted e-mail messages

-Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.0

-Enhancements for those that have high-speed access and are participating in

the B.Y.O.P (Bring Your Own Provider)

According to AOL, the system requirements have not changed (Pentium class

processor or higher, 16MB of RAM and 38 MB of hard disk space) and the

actual download file has not increased in size. When you mentioned that it

pulled down your resources, I am assuming you meant that things did not work

the same or as fast. According to AOL, this is not a normal result to

upgrading to 5.0. An item, however, that could possibly cause some issues

of this nature is the integrated browser (the software that lets you see the

WWW) which went from Internet Explorer 4.0 to IE 5.0. This newer browser

may be responding differently because of its new abilities, which you may be

translating as "slower". Because you did not specifically describe the

exact cause of your discomfort, I can only speculate. I have come in

contact with a couple of systems that have encountered a variety of problems

after installing AOL 5.0, but in every situation it was because of a

pre-existing problem with the system. You're more likely to notice a

difference if you have an older Pentium system as opposed to one of the

newer faster Pentium III just because of the difference in processing power.

I installed AOL 5.0 as a test on my Pentium II system just after it was

released and did not notice any differences in functionality or performance.

Have you noticed a difference?

If you have loaded AOL 5.0 on your system and have an opinion as to whether

you would recommend others to do the same, place your vote on our free help

web site at www.support4free.com. I will publish the results in a later

column.

Author

Posted by Ken of Data Doctors on November 1, 1999

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