This week America Online made its AOL 9.0 client available to beta testers. One interesting change is that Apple’s QuickTime media player is included instead of RealNetworks’ RealOne player, which had previously been the technology powering AOL’s media player, according to an eWeek article.
The AOL 9.0 beta, code-named Blue Hawaii, is Windows only. The latest Mac versions are AOL for Mac OS X for Mac OS X (10.1 and higher) and AOL 5.0 for Mac OS 8.1-9.x. However, some of Blue Hawaii’s features could make it into future Mac versions of the product.
America Online launched AOL for Mac OS X last August. In April a new version was released that included the ability to add the AOL for Broadband service to any high-speed DSL or cable Internet connection, as well as enhanced parental controls.
eWeek reports that new features in the 9.0 client beta include: a changeable user interface; QuickViews, which allow members to obtain information by rolling their mouse over a feature; Dashboard, which serves up a dictionary, AOL Radio, Google search, local weather, and stock quotes; and “multiple personalities,” which let users select various sets of buddy icons, buddy sounds, and other personalized features and display them to different people. What hasn’t changed is that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is still the default browser, not AOL Time Warner’s own Netscape.