Getting More Out of AOL

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Evan Kleiman - 2002.05.20

One of the problems that have plagued us AOL users for a long time now is how the PC world has a much more feature-packed access client than its Macintosh counterpart. There have been many reasons thrown out by AOL, such as we don't have enough users, that they had to devote many people to the AOL for OS X development, or that version numbers don't mean anything.

But no matter what your theory on it is, AOL for the Macintosh is years behind the PC version, and there's nothing you can do about it - well, sort of.

Today, I'll explain how you can use a bunch of well-known programs in different ways to help better your overall AOL experience.

Use AIM

While the AOL client itself might not be up to par with its Windows counterpart, it's AIM or AOL Instant Messenger cousin is still neck and neck with the Windows version. But what if you're using AOL? You can't use AIM, right? Wrong. You can, but with a catch.

The only drawback to using AIM as your Instant Messaging client instead of the one already built into AOL is that you cannot use it for the screen name that you used sign on to your current session, because if you are signed onto the same screen name on both clients, anyone who IMs you will automatically go to AOL not AIM. There is an easy fix: All you need to do is sign on to another screen name that no one will IM you on or one that no one uses anymore, then sign on to AIM.

While this might be a bit of an inconvenience for some, you can get many more benefits over using the other AOL software to send Instant Messages. Now that you are using the newer software, you will have such features as buddy icons, color profiles, better chat, direct instant messaging, and file sharing.

Of course, you can get AIM at AOL's website at <http://www.aol.com/>.

Use Buddy Icons

While they are pretty much unknown to Mac users, buddy icons are something that allow even more options to express their creativity and individuality online. AIM has a nice collection for you to use, but if they aren't original enough for you, you can get some more here, at

Use an External Browser

Many people also use the AOL browser to view the web, and when using this, they usually discover how slow, unstable, and feature-barren AOL's browser truly is.

How do you fix it? It's pretty easy! All you need to do is launch your favorite browser, whether it's Netscape, Internet Explorer, iCab, Opera, or something else. Just because you are using AOL doesn't mean you can't use any form of external internet-aware application, so get out there and have some fun!

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