Real World Computing

But my praise for AOL doesn't stop there, for AOL 9 also introduces video messaging as part of the improved chat functionality, a fire-and-forget solution that works without any pain whatsoever so long as you have a webcam. Not only is the video quality good, but there are none of the stability issues often associated with other low-end video conferencing offerings. Indeed I've managed to hold a multiparticipant video chat session without any hassle. With no disrespect intended towards AOL, this is the kind of mature and workable functionality I'd hardly have expected from the newbies' favourite ISP. But then I've started to re-evaluate just what the 'newbie' label means in this everyone-online age anyway. A few years ago, any self-respecting online old timer would rather have been seen singing along at a Cliff Richard concert than admit to thinking AOL or MSN had anything worthwhile to bring to the Internet user experience. But times change, and faced with increased competition from 'real' ISPs following the broadband revolution (where every service provider has to be a friend to the newbie), AOL and MSN had to change too. This has not only seen a new maturity in their offerings - as evidenced by the inclusion of the separate AOL dialler - but also parental controls that actually work, a web-acceleration system for dial-up users (TopSpeed) that does likewise, and to complete the 'does what it says on the tin' triumvirate, effective anti-spam filtering plus bundled firewall and anti-virus offerings. Perhaps it's time to stop thinking of 'newbie friendly' as implying over-simplified, resource-hogging cack, and just admit that it's now more likely to mean uncomplicated, efficient and effective.

Continued....