Testing in *shudder* AOL

How do I install it without messing up my machine?

[j4mes]

As a conscientious web author, I feel it my duty to install AOL so that I may see what they see.

Last time i checked, AOL was a stripped down/bloated version of IE with some frilly bits, but I wanted to know:

Is it actually far enough from IE6 to warrant installing it to see the differences?

Is it possible to install it (separately from everything else) without majorly slowing down and *ing up my computer (has happened in the past)?

Thanks.

Apologies to any die hard AOL fan(s) here on WebmasterWorld!

[Shak]

its a total different world behind there.

I still have my original account from 1995/96 and pay an annual charge for access.

sure is strange, and well worth looking into.

Shak

[j4mes]

its a total different world behind there

LOL, I thought as much!

Can it be used without paying those guys any money?

<edit> The browser I mean, not an illegal account! </edit>

[Shak]

James,

since u r in the UK, I would have thought, YES no problemo

just get 1 of the billions of trial CDs.

if you have any problems just ask anyone on the street, they bound to have one

Shak

[j4mes]

Oh, trial CDs aren't a problem, I've got hundreds, all employed as reflective coasters. I just needed to know of a way of installing the thing without it taking over.

Perhaps you know which are the necessary files to pull out and run alone without letting the installer loose on my files/registry/etc. Bad experience a while back put me right off...

[isitreal]

Don't install AOL's trial cd if you can help it, it is highly invasive, aol is not an internet connection, but an access to the aol proxy server. When you install the disk, it is going to significantly alter your tcp/ip settings, add a whole bunch of junk to your registry.

Keep in mind the aol target market, zero knowledge users. This is not to mention frequently documented system failures etc from installing aol software, failures that aol will not pay for.

Also, over the last few years, AOL has been repeatedly sued for failing to cancel accounts promptly, if at all. They have lost almost all of these lawsuites, but continue the practice since they make more money by billing those extra months than they lose in penalties. I would never under any circumstance give AOL a valid credit card number for this reason.

If you do install it, install it on an os made to be wiped clean, not your primary development system.

AOL does use IE as its browsing engine, but the AOL software is by no means neutral, it has many bugs, different ones on each new version, some of those bugs can cause specific failures in specific circumstances that you won't see on IE standing alone.

Things to keep in mind re AOL: they cache their version of the web, and unless you change some default settings in their software, that's what your users will see. They recompress all images using their own proprietary compression format, so don't be surprised when clients say, why does the image look so fuzzy? when it looks fine over the real web. There is a limit on the width of background images, either jpg or gif, I can't remember which, it's about 600 some pixels, read their webmaster section to learn current practices.

[scottmack]

NeMechanic.com does a browser test for AOL; I don't know well it works.

Winmag.com does not recommend installing it just for testing - it adds or changes hundreds of files including system files.

I used it for 7 years - I never had problems using it, even at the most cutting-edge sites - CSS, javascript, etc.

If people are using AOL's graphic compression, they're seeing everyone's site that way.

(Maybe AOL users are less computer-saavy - they spend money online, just like everybody else.)

Do you know someone with AOL to look at your pages. In my college town, half the people have it.

[vkaryl]

I have a seriously antique laptop with AOL installed (this is the hunk of metal I haul along when we go hunting, etc. - it has AOL because there isn't ONE SQUARE INCH of the US without the ability to dial in to AOL for free....)

So I use it to look at my sites from that perspective. But since I don't give a rat's ass about "making money from AOL users" (or anyone else, actually), I don't worry much about minor (or even major) inconsistencies.

You get what you pay for....