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
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.
About the author
Ken Colburn of Data Doctors on November 1, 1999
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