AOL has such a bad reputation all around that whenever I see an AOL article, I see people almost spitting. All of them want to see AOL out of business and out of their lives. AOL also suffers from bad publicity. Be it press or bloggers around America. They are too much against, once internet giant. Recently AOL launched Photo sharing website and immediately people started finding flaws and lack of features.
See AOL is not as bad. I have got chance to work with lot of AOL software. I know AOL client is not very efficient (it still makes life easy for people who are not geeks. It bundles lot of things in one window). But AOL is improving big time. With its new free services like AOL mail (web version), improved AIM, XDrive, AOL pictures and host of AIM services, AOL is moving fast towards more open and light web experience.
As I have written about other email clients, I want to do a quick review of the features here. AOL web mail is actually the best in terms of features and additional services. For example, you have access to e-mail, Calendar, Address Book and Tasks in one window. You can drag and drop mails into different folders. These are normal features which anybody can provide.
More serious additions to AOL mail (plus other services) are:
# Sign-up and register for your own personal domain (i.e. you@thenameyouwant.com).
# Invite family and friends* to join your domain (i.e. mom@thenameyouwant.com)
#Share your favorite pictures more easily through AOL or AIM® Mail by clicking on ‘Insert Pictures.’
#Choose from pictures on your local computer or from albums on AOL Pictures.
#Get one-click upload and saving of pictures in their original resolution to the Shoebox album. There’s unlimited storage and AOL Pictures is all free!
My favorite features are:
#I can select a text in my e-mails and directly blog them on AOL Journals.
#Search is super fast and efficient.
#Mail is fast too and never makes those noises like yahoo mail beta and others.
#No spam. Wonderful spam protection for me. I don’t know how they manage it.
There is nothing bad about it except the big add banner at the bottom. Its a little large than it should be. I am sure AOL will change this.
All This is for free. Any body can sign up and start using. The screen name will also give you access to great other services like AIM, AOL Radio (with XM), Video, XDrive(5GB online storage for free) News and lots of content.
