Today I am going to talk a little about software that has been around almost as long as the Internet, AOL. This software was one of the first major programs that I installed on 
my very first Windows machine. At its peak, AOL was one of the fastest growing companies in the country. Back in the days of dialup, AOL was like your best friend. Back in those days after you hit the button to connect, you could hear the pinging sound of the software connecting to your phone line.
Depending on your connection speed, this could take several minutes in some cases. It was not uncommon to hit the connect button and then leave to get your nighttime snack while the connection process was taking place. Once connected, you could slowly see the images popping up on your screen. You could feel the excitement rushing through your veins as you heard the unknown voice say “You’ve Got Mail”.
You have to admit, it was a rush. As an added bonus, you could look at your instant messenger to see if any of your buddies were online. You might even hear the familiar “chime” of one of your friends messaging you to see what you are doing tonight. Those days of simple technology were great and exciting times to have lived through. This was just the beginning of what was to become the great technology era.
Today things are quite a bit different. AOL has lost its luster to many since the era of broadband and cable emerged. There are still many of us that are still diehard fans of AOL and I am one of them. I have never stopped using them for at least some of my e-mails and I always use their version 9.7 desktop software to check the latest news articles. They have one of the best on the Internet.
Their site is also safe; I never worry about getting tangled up with Malware or hacker sites. To me, using AOL has a sense of nostalgia, a blast from the past. Almost like being with an old friend. I know that there are lots of you out there that hate AOL but consider this: if you are using the desktop software all your e mails are scanned automatically by AOL before they get to your inbox. I have never received a virus while using the software in the many years I have been doing so. I have, on the other hand, have had many e-mails flagged when I was using Outlook to receive my e-mails.
AOL also has some great exclusive video material along with great music performances on their Sessions series. Did I mention AOL radio? It is great. Lots of good music to listen to while you work and it is free. One of the biggest changes in the software over the years is that it went from a paid only service to a free service. There are still some people in rural areas that do not have access to broadband and the pay dial up service is still there for anybody to use. In addition, some people keep the dialup service as a backup. The paid versions also offer premium support if you have a problem.
If you have been away from AOL for a long time or you have never tried it, give it a shot. If your from the old dialup days, it will give you a feeling of nostalgia when you hear that same unknown voice say “You’ve Got Mail”.
Author: Joe Zelenak
http://www.computergeeksonline.net/
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