I have used AOL for many years. In my experience with this ISP (internet service provider) I have found that their upgrades only get worse each time, they are overpriced, and they are extremely unreliable. That pretty much goes for any and every ISP program out there. My solution? I upgraded to a DSL line and signed up for the free service of AIM (Aol Instant Messenger).

FEATURES OF AIM:

*If you sign up for the AIM service under an AOL screen-name, you will keep your buddy list as it was on AOL. This is great because you don't have to sit there and enter all your buddies into your list again.

*You can customize your buddy list completely. You can dim buddies that have been inactive for a certain amount of minutes that you choose. You can change the font style and size of your buddy list. You can also choose to hide the taskbar button when you minimize your buddy list.

*As for privacy, you can decide whether or not your buddies can see when you are idle and how long, your e-mail address, and you can also block certain users from sending you messages.

*When you sign-on, you choose whether to save your password, if you want AIM to sign-on automatically (either when you start the AIM program or when you start your computer), and if you want the "Today" window to pop up when you start AIM. ("Today" is basically a window that tells you about recent news and various other AIM options.)

*If you are idle, you can choose to respond with an automatic idle message of your choice that will inform people that you are not by your computer and request that they leave a message.

*When you are going to be away from your computer for extended periods, you can put up an away message. This is a message that tells people where you are or what you are doing and you can personalize these or use the ones that come standard on AIM. Ex: "I am away from my computer right now."

*You can also have an e-mail alert. This will alert you whenever you receive new mail at your e-mail address, but you have to know specific details about your mail server like the POP-3 address.

*With AIM you can customize the font style you want to use in your instant messages. You can also choose to view the time each message was received and sign-off/on notifications for users. To further your privacy, you can choose to use dialogs that will allow you to accept of decline messages from users not in your buddy list.

*AIM Talk is a feature that allows you to actually communicate with your buddy vocally if you both have the required software (i.e. mics).

For more information on AIM, I suggest you check out www.AIM.com. I recommend this program if you already have an internet connection and want a service that is free and trust-worthy!



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