AOL browser

Sorry, but I have never seen that :)

[NeoN]

Hi all! Sorry for stupid question.. I am far away from USA.. So I have never seen AOL software that many use in USA.
What is their browser based on?
Does it have any limitation? In window size?
Any specific things about that?

Thanks a lot!

[lorax]

Neon,
Last time I checked, the AOL browser was based on the MSIE. Only slight variations. If you design for MSIE, you should be ok though you may want to do a search here on WebmasterWorld for more information.

[creative craig]

AOL have filters installed that reduce the file sizes of images to get a quicker download speed for their customers.

The main header on one of my web sites looks crappy because of this and I have had several emails telling me about it, I reply asking them to try another browser and then another ISP ;)

[copongcopong]

Until now, AOL still uses MSIE as the default browser and even for its coming version (8) it would still use MSIE.

Well they got plans to use Netscape(gecko engine) as default browser ... may be due to marketing issues and plans (yeah aol does) .... we need to wait for a long time for this to happen. :)

[tedster]

AOL already released a Netscape based browser to their Compuserve customers. Since AOL owns the Netscape brand, and since that once great brand is now in great need of help, I expect them to move on this as soon as they realistically can.

I'm also glad they are not moving too fast. A lousy transition for their customer base would only damage the Netscape brand further. The long view would say take the time to do it well. I hope that's what we're seeing.

[BlobFisk]

The Compuserve customers are being used as a trial run using the Mozilla Gecko. I've heard nothing negative yet, but it is early days.

AOL have said that part of their plan is to use the Mozilla Gecko as the basis for the AOL browser, but there have been no moves in this direction yet (as has been pointed out, AOL 8 is still running the MSIE engine).

I agree with Tedster when he said that it is a good thing that they are moving slowly on this one. While AOL/Time do own Netscape, it's good to see that they have the maturity and business acumen to wait and see how Compuserve does before making any move towards the Mozilla Gecko transition.

The AOL browser has, I feel, been restrictive to it's users in certain ways. It's method of reducing image quality, and I think there are certain issues with some SSL encryption levels not being supported by the AOL browser?

[RFranzen]

If I remember correctly, AOL announced Gecko would be used as the basis for its Macintosh browser, but IE would remain as the msWindows browser.

Being a strong fan of Mozilla, I cannot understand the business reasoning. How can they ever expect their own product, Netscape, to compete, when they themselves don't use it?

-- Rich

[lorax]

How can they ever expect their own product, Netscape, to compete, when they themselves don't use it?

Unless they don't have confidence in it themselves?

Perhaps they're working on a newer, better release that will blow the pants of MSIE while they attempt to meet an immediate need with what's currently available? Just guessing here.

[mack]

What percentage of AOL mmbers do we estimate actualy use the AOL browser. A member of my family uses AOL as their ISP. They called through for customer suport and where declined any support because they admited they used internet explorer as their browser.

That seams harsh.

[dingman]

declined any support because they admited they used internet explorer as their browser.

That seams harsh.

especially since the title bar on IE probably said "Provided by AOL" - kinda implies they think it's an OK thing. We installed it on my wife's computer when we moved, to tide us over while we waited for DSL. (Hey, it's free for the first 1025 hours you use in the first 1028 hours after you sign up.) We've since uninstalled AOL and upgraded IE, and it *still* says that.

[jdMorgan]

"Provided by AOL" - We've since uninstalled AOL and upgraded IE, and it *still* says that.

I had another ISP do this. It got to be so irritating (reminded me constantly of why I left) that I went into regedit and removed all instances of their name from the customized registry keys (you can search for the text in regedit to find them - always make a backup!). Now my title bar is back to the default.

I think competition is good for browsers, as long as they work hard to prevent rendering discrepancies between different browsers. I am looking forward to the day when AOL switches to Gecko.

Jim

[dhdweb]

What works with AOL & what doesn't?

Click here to see >>> [webmaster.info.aol.com...]

[dingman]

went into regedit and removed all instances of their name

I just haven't bothered because the only time IE ever gets started on that machine is when I want to make sure something I've done renders OK in it. I use Galeon most of the time, and my better half uses Opera.

I am looking forward to the day when AOL switches to Gecko.

Me, too. Maybe then MS will see a need to actually support the DOM and full CSS2, and I'll feel like I can write client-side dynamic content with a decent chance of working. Javascript seems like a nice enough language, but the browser support issues are just too much to be worth it.

Speaking of such things, is there anything like a developer pre-release of Opera 7 out there or imminent? If their marketing department is right, it should have very nice DOM and CSS2 support, and I'd like to play with it.