Aol 9 is badware [Archive] - Team17 Forum

PDA

View Full Version : Aol 9 is badware

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:02
Now it is official:
AOL 9 is badware (http://www.stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol082706).
Yay!

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:10
Now it is official:
AOL 9 is badware (http://www.stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=aol082706).
Yay!
Wrong. AOL 9.0 Free Version is Badware. AOL 9.0 isn't.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:13
Wrong. AOL 9.0 Free Version is Badware. AOL 9.0 isn't.
Mmmhh... Do you want to say that AOL 9.0 (free version) isnīt AOL 9.0?

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:15
Yes and no. AOL 9.0 Free version is AOL and Badware, AOL 9.0 is not AOL 9.0 free version because it's not free (or badware)

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:18
Yes and no. AOL 9.0 Free version is AOL and Badware, AOL 9.0 is not AOL 9.0 free version because it's not free (or badware)
3 Questions:
- Do you pay for AOL software?
- Are you an AOL employee?
- Do you you know what you are talking about?

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:19
Yes, you do. Originally, to get the full, non-free version stuff. And no, I'm not. I'm 14

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:24
Besides AOL is badware:
AOL is evil because of their utter lack of respect for their users. If you use AOL, you are not actually taking part in the internet community. You get to look around a bit, but you have been walled off from the real experience. But the most IMPORTANT reason AOL is evil is they routinely filter your messages and then not bother to tell you that they filtered your messages.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:25
Oh, where do I start? AOL is evil because of their utter lack of respect for their users. If you use AOL, you are not actually taking part in the internet community. You get to look around a bit, but you have been walled off from the real experience. But the most IMPORTANT reason AOL is evil is they routinely filter your messages and then not bother to tell you that they filtered your messages.
What do you base all of this on, may I ask?

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:30
What do you base all of this on, may I ask?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:36
If you use AOL, you are not actually taking part in the internet community. You get to look around a bit, but you have been walled off from the real experience.
What do you base that on?

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:39
What do you base that on?
Experience. Do yourself a favour and to read up on AOL.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:40
No. You tell me. Don't just wipe stuff away with the word 'experience'. Tell me. Make a valid argument.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:41
No. You tell me. Don't just wipe stuff away with the word 'experience'. Tell me. Make a valid argument.
I am not your personal google service. Sorry.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:42
If you can't back up your claims, then they should be ignored.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:45
If you can't back up your claims, then they should be ignored.
Ignore me. I donīt care.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:48
Tactic 16HBLX: Avoid the point at hand by changing the strain of conversation due to lack of ability to withstand the current topic.
Back up your points.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:50
Tactic 16HBLX: Avoid the point at hand by changing the strain of conversation due to lack of ability to withstand the current topic.
Back up your points.
Why is it so hard for you to inform yourself? And yes, we are getting offtopic. Meet me on wormnet, letīs have a game and we can talk further.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 21:51
Because you're the one making the argument and should therefore back it up.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 21:54
Because you're the one making the argument and should therefore back it up.
Yes, sure. But donīt you think it is better that one makes his own opinion rather than listening to random **** a random guy is talking?

Plasma
28 Aug 2006, 22:22
What do you base that on?
A small one, but what about this:
... they routinely filter your messages and then not bother to tell you that they filtered your messages.

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 22:24
touché, Plasma.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 22:30
I am not your personal google service. Sorry.
*sigh*
Ok, i am:
The Many Disadvantages of America Online (AOL):
AOL is acceptable for first time computer users, children, and people who haven't comparison shopped for an online service. Their marketing says they have email and they have instant messaging. The truth is that EVERY online service gives you what AOL does. It's like saying, "this car even comes with wheels." It better!
The truth is you're paying far too much and getting far too little compared to their competition.
1) AOL is Extremely Expensive.
2) AOL has relentless advertising. Every time you log on you are presented with a product to purchase, then frequently during your session. The advertising is often animated (in motion) which is very distracting.
3) *obsolete*
4) AOL has few useful email addresses left. Do you really want your email address to be sue599871? See if you can get your choice.
5) AOL is not unlimited access. They charge extra for selected services - please check with AOL to find out what is currently not included as this continues to change.
6) AOL is often difficult to connect to. This depends on your location and time of day but has been a complaint by users for years.
7) AOL disconnects you EVERY 15mins if you don't keep answering that you want to stay connected.
8) AOL email is the worst available, and you have no choice of software. Currently available FREE software (like Microsoft Outlook Express) contain so many features AOL doesn't.
a) *obsolete*
b) AOL doesn't allow you to access their service on several computers simultaneously. AOL only allows one connection at a time.
c) AOL doesn't offer you the ability to get your email by phone, having it read to you via a toll free number (you don't even need a computer).
d) AOL doesn't let you reply to your email by phone.
e) AOL doesn't offer you faxing by web.
f) AOL doesn't have a feature to send your own voice recordings as email to anyone - no special software required and no extra charge.
g) AOL doesn't offer long distance phone calls for FREE to a TELEPHONE.
h) AOL doesn't let you read your email on your mobile phone.
i) AOL doesn't let you send and receive your email on your Palm or PocketPC computer unless you purchase separate software.
j) AOL's email program doesn't offer sending and receiving web pages by email - wait 'till you try this.
k) AOL doesn't allow you to send messages without sending the recipients info (called BCC or Blind Carbon Copy). This violates people's privacy when you send email to more than one person.
l) AOL doesn't support email addresses in groups or lists. This is a feature you'll LOVE when you leave AOL.
m) AOL won't forward your email to another address (if you cancel their service, you lose your email address).
n) AOL doesn't let you use backgrounds or any web editing features like sound effects in your email. The feature AOL doesn't have is called Stationery. It allows you to make templates for repetitive messages. These can be fully graphical and animated. There's no such ability in AOL software.
o) Vacation Message - Let's say you're on holiday for 2 weeks. What happens to your email while you're away? It sits there and your senders think you didn't get their messages or worse, that you're not replying.
p) Auto Responses - Excellent for businesses - This allows you to have an immediate reply sent to every sender with a custom message of your design. It can be used to notify your clients about specials or features of your company, any promotion you want!
q) AOL email has been clocked as taking as long as 12 HOURS to be delivered (source - www.jdate.com). Why would anyone put up with that?
9) AOL tech support is difficult to get on the phone.
10) AOL software takes up 30mbs on your hard drive, has no drag and drop, no schedulable offline browsing, no automatic addressing, no linking to your computer or network for file management, you can't define buttons, and it's very slow.
11) AOL users get lots of unsolicited email.
12) AOL is usually rated the lowest Internet Service Provider in terms of price, quality, and tech support compared with other ISPs in computer magazine reviews. People who know what's out there rarely use AOL. It's too restrictive and offers too little compared with direct providers, which are almost always less money and faster.
13) AOL doesn't reward you for referring your friends.
14) AOL keeps sending you updates. Many people find this very annoying and can't turn it off.
15) AOL will NOT forward your email. When you try to cancel their service, they won't allow your email to follow you, nor may you export your AddrBk or Favorites or Messages. This is done purposely to LOCK YOU into their service.
16) AOL will NOT export your Address Book. When you try to cancel their service, they won't allow your keep your Address Book or export it to a competitor's program. This is done purposely to LOCK YOU into their service.
17) AOL will NOT export your Favorites. All that time you've spent finding the best websites and AOL won't allow you to export them to a competitor's program. This is done purposely to LOCK YOU into their service.
18) AOL will NOT export your Messages. You might have years of saved messages. You don't want to lose them. But AOL won't allow you to export them to a competitor's program. This is done purposely to LOCK YOU into their service.
19) AOL doesn't have special request TIPS. We offer our clients, and anyone who visits our website and requests it, FREE email Tips.
20) Internet Call Waiting. For those of you with one phone line, we can show you how to receive voice messages from your callers WHILE ON THE INTERNET and FREE! Now your callers won't get a busy signal. Now they won't get voicemail with no way for you to know there's a message.
21) Using their email address shows you don't know any better. When you give out your AOL email address you are telling everyone you're using AOL (since they don't let you use any other address than AOL.com). Especially for businesses this is foolish. Not only are you advertising them WHEN YOU SHOULD BE ADVERTISING YOUR OWN BUSINESS, but you're telling the world that you don't know any better. It would be as if you had a sign on a cheap old car that said, "I paid $100,000 for this car AND I bought it from AOL!!!"
22) Attachments. Though AOL advertises that they're easy to use, try receiving attachments.
(http://www.creativeconsulting.com/AOL/index.htm)
AOL (America Online) is still the biggest rip-off today. Why, then, are so many people duped into continuing self-abuse?
Advertising "Coasters"
When CD's first came out, AOL would mass-mail them to people in their never-ending effort to seduce you into trying AOL "For Free" like a (by some means legitimate) drug pusher. They still arrive (addressed to long since deceased individuals) in various forms over-packaging constructed of intricate plastic and sometimes strange metal canisters (now filling our landfills to the brink). Anyway, my extremely gullible and "neophytec" mother would call me up and insist that "Something very important has just arrived for the computer!" and I would run over to find a flurry of AOL CD's on the kitchen table.
I solved this problem (quite brilliantly I thought) by stating convincingly and in as much of an authoritative tone that my mother would allow: "My dear mother, these are merely coasters". Every now and then I would find a half-filled orange juice glass sitting on a "80 Million Hours Free" CD on the coffee table.
F.Y.I. This is the same mother who told me she thought that someone had emailed her a virus, so she forwarded it to me so I could "take a look at it".
AOL the original "Spyware"
Many people are unaware that you don't need any AOL software to connect to the Internet or read your AOL Email. (F.Y.I. The same generally holds true for Verizon and Comcast.)
Then why on earth are they always trying to get you to install (and then constantly update) their software? The answer is to find out what you have on your computer, (usually hardware) your surfing habits and to target their marketing at you.
For example, a client of mine (prior to being rescued and taken to a "de-programming" center by me) told me that AOL called her and said something like: "I can see you don't have a scanner installed on your computer, we are having a sale, would you like to buy a scanner?"
AOL: Keyword: "dinosaur"
While it is true that since the spread of broadband people have been leaving AOL in droves, I tell myself there must be some rational explanation why otherwise normally intelligent people cannot seem to divorce themselves from the worse than useless dinosaur that is AOL.
AOL Continues to bill your credit cart after cancellation
I know that it is not easy to cancel your account, which when eventually confronted by your efforts to free yourself, they initially offer to reduce your monthly fee, and then tell you can have it free for three months while you decide if you really want to leave. Then there are the horror stories of AOL refusing to stop billing your credit card months after you have told them you want to cancel. I know at least two people who had to cancel their credit cards completely to finally rid themselves of the gorilla on their backs.
You have the right not to pay AOL. If Dr. King were around today, I can hear him... "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we're free at last!
Deceptive Marketing
The only explanation I can come up with for why people voluntarily part with more than $20.00 a month for a completely useless service is the following: A clever marketing scheme and the fear of switching to some other service. AOL's present deceptive marketing tag line: "AOL - Want a better Internet?" has actually convinced some (unbelievably gullible) people that AOL is somehow improving the Internet, protecting you or there is more than one (good and bad?) "Internet"!
(http://www.mygeek.info/MyGeek-News-Information-Commentary-Technology-Culture.html)
More to read:
http://www.freepress.net/news/14968
http://news.com.com/AOL+charged+with+blocking+opponents+e-mail/2100-1030_3-6061089.html
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/online-providers/aol-sucks-faq/part1/
http://forums.site5.com/showthread.php?p=76295
http://www.businessreform.com/article.php?articleID=10659
http://www.60-seconds.com/188_AOL_gone_bad.html
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200604/msg00152.html
http://www.sjcdc.org/censor.html
http://www.stevenporcaro.com/6/did-aol-censor-email/

BuffaloKid
28 Aug 2006, 23:02
2) AOL has relentless advertising. Every time you log on you are presented with a product to purchase, then frequently during your session. The advertising is often animated (in motion) which is very distracting.
Not frequently during your session, just when you log on
4) AOL has few useful email addresses left. Do you really want your email address to be sue599871? See if you can get your choice.
That's because they have a lot of members
6) AOL is often difficult to connect to. This depends on your location and time of day but has been a complaint by users for years.
I've never had a problem
7) AOL disconnects you EVERY 15mins if you don't keep answering that you want to stay connected.
Not true. At all. Never come across this.
8) AOL email is the worst available, and you have no choice of software. Currently available FREE software (like Microsoft Outlook Express) contain so many features AOL doesn't
a) AOL doesn't offer Broadband access, which is at least 50 times faster than telephone access. NOTE that this service is not available in all areas.
Not true
f) AOL doesn't have a feature to send your own voice recordings as email to anyone - no special software required and no extra charge.
You can, however, attatch a recording if you like
l) AOL doesn't support email addresses in groups or lists. This is a feature you'll LOVE when you leave AOL.
It does
o) Vacation Message - Let's say you're on holiday for 2 weeks. What happens to your email while you're away? It sits there and your senders think you didn't get their messages or worse, that you're not replying.
No, they get a vacation message
q) AOL email has been clocked as taking as long as 12 HOURS to be delivered (source - www.jdate.com). Why would anyone put up with that?
Agreed on that, annoying
9) AOL tech support is difficult to get on the phone.
Something else I agree with.
11) AOL users get lots of unsolicited email.
No I don't
22) Attachments. Though AOL advertises that they're easy to use, try receiving attachments. If you have, you already know what we mean. See for yourself if you think this feature is easy.
It is.

evilworm2
28 Aug 2006, 23:05
You should wait with quoting till i am finished with editing. This is old stuff. And yes, i never used AOL.

M3ntal
29 Aug 2006, 05:53
BuffaloKid, AOL is one of the most intrusive, least feature-filled service providers. They are, and have been for years, the laughing stock of ISP's and the IT community. Their latest TV advert that i have seen is "wireless Internet for the same price as normal wired Internet". Firstly, the Internet connection itself is still wired, what they mean is "wireless LAN for the same price as normal wired LAN", so they are blatently misleading people. Secondly, there hasn't been a broadband Internet service available since the birth of broadband that doesn't allow you to plug it into a wireless router and get the exact same feature, and most other ISP's offer you a free wireless router as an option on signup anyway. It's like evilworm2 said, they are doing the equivalent of selling cars with the slogan "it even comes with wheels!".
If you are still not convinced of how bad AOL are, post up the details (cost, features, etc) of your AOL Internet service and i'll find you 10 other ISP's (with links as proof) that serve Internet in your area with the same features or better, and cheaper.

Pigbuster
29 Aug 2006, 05:56
I propose that "9" and "ware" be removed from this topic's titile.

Akuryou13
29 Aug 2006, 06:20
ok, I hate AOL as much as anyone. I used it for a few years and now that I've used non-aol services I would rather die than go back, but evilworm, about half of the things you've said AOL doesn't have and as such it's a crappy program are things that I've never heard of nor seen in any of the ISPs or e-mail providers that I've ever used or known people using. your expectations are ENTIRELY too high for any program much less one program in itsself. your main complaint seems to be that AOL doesn't offer you every single conceivable thing the internet has to offer displayed on a silver platter fully equipped with a french maid, 2 butlers, and a personalized set of lips to plant on your posterior. seriously, you can't expect ANYTHING to offer all those things you listed, and yet your main complaint appears to be that AOL doesn't have all those things. try out any other internet provider, and I will GUARANTEE you won't get all of those things you listed any more than you would get them on AOL.
also, I would like to say that AOL is evil incarnate and I believe that all users of said program violate their rights to life.

MtlAngelus
29 Aug 2006, 07:56
_BuffaloKid looses 600 points for standing up for AOL.
_
_Angelus wins infinite points for being awesome.

AndrewTaylor
29 Aug 2006, 13:35
I noticed a lot of the items on that inconsistently numbered list were "AOL doesn't have this unusual feature that almost no service has and almost nobody uses", and some of the others were "AOL says they have this common feature, but in fact everyone else does too". Those are pretty stupid things to criticise it for.
AOL is a useful service for people who don't know much about the Internet, to get them started on it, but if they're going for that they should start being a little more honest in their marketing. Otherwise it just looks like exploitation.

evilworm2
29 Aug 2006, 14:06
...that inconsistently numbered list...
I didīt write it, just copy n paste. You can say it is poorly formatted, but inconsistently numbered?. Mmhh...

Xinos
29 Aug 2006, 17:05
I didīt write it, just copy n paste. You can say it is poorly formatted, but inconsistently numbered?. Mmhh...
Does it matter?

robowurmz
29 Aug 2006, 18:41
AOL 9.0 FULL version is badware, man! After uninstalling it, my computer acted very strangely. My antivirus wouldn't scan. Then the harddrive stopped working completely, when I got a new ISP.
AOL MUST DIE!!!!
:mad::mad: :mad: :mad:

MrBunsy
30 Aug 2006, 10:10
Do you have to instal AOL's weird software to use their internet connection then? Can't you simply plug their modem into your router and have done with it?

Akuryou13
30 Aug 2006, 11:27
Do you have to instal AOL's weird software to use their internet connection then? Can't you simply plug their modem into your router and have done with it?nope. their dialing program is AOL itsself. and the worst part is that when you want to play games AOL is taking up so much RAM that it kills everything else.

MrBunsy
30 Aug 2006, 11:36
Even if you get an ADSL modem? How does their 'wireless boradband' work if the router can't log in by itself?

Akuryou13
30 Aug 2006, 12:15
Even if you get an ADSL modem? How does their 'wireless boradband' work if the router can't log in by itself?that I wouldn't know. they just recently came up with broadband AOL, but I'd be willing to bet that when you log off AOL itsself that it logs off the internet as well. a company by the name of centurytel in my area offers a desktop shortcut that lets you connect and disconnect at will, and I imagine that this same sort of thing is coded into the AOL software so that when it's closed for any reason the internet is logged off.

MrBunsy
30 Aug 2006, 17:54
Hmm, I'm not sure that's possible. Looking at the list of modem routers supported by AOL, there are netgear ADSL routers on the list. If you were to use an ADSL router, and it was to work, there would be no way that AOL could force you to use their software.
If on the other hand, you plug an ADSL modem into your PC with say a USB cable, then they could easily force you to us their software.

Akuryou13
31 Aug 2006, 02:24
Hmm, I'm not sure that's possible. Looking at the list of modem routers supported by AOL, there are netgear ADSL routers on the list. If you were to use an ADSL router, and it was to work, there would be no way that AOL could force you to use their software.
If on the other hand, you plug an ADSL modem into your PC with say a USB cable, then they could easily force you to us their software.who knows? that may well be what they do :p I was just speculating as I've never been unfortunate enough to use it.

BuffaloKid
31 Aug 2006, 10:03
that I wouldn't know. they just recently came up with broadband AOL, but I'd be willing to bet that when you log off AOL itsself that it logs off the internet as well. a company by the name of centurytel in my area offers a desktop shortcut that lets you connect and disconnect at will, and I imagine that this same sort of thing is coded into the AOL software so that when it's closed for any reason the internet is logged off.
Yes, indeed, except when it encounters a problem online, in which case it stays connected but has to take some time to sort out the problem (Login status is shown as 'Logged in to AOL')

Slick
31 Aug 2006, 12:01
I've noticed recently AOL has been really adding a lot of advertisements for when you log on. Which is just as bad as pop-ups, if not worse. It slows your computer to a comma like state, and then when you log off they always show you stupid and pointless things that they try to make you download.
"Download the AOL security! If not, your computer will be raped by the terorists monkeys in Asia! " "Thank you for downloading the AOL security spyware, would you like to also download the Security alert center that takes up 50+mb and does absolutly nothing?" "No? Well tough sh!t, you need it. The internets is scary. But if you must, we'll just secretly download it into your computer while you surf the web; causeing major laging in anything you do on your computer."

Akuryou13
31 Aug 2006, 15:00
I've noticed recently AOL has been really adding a lot of advertisements for when you log on. Which is just as bad as pop-ups, if not worse. It slows your computer to a comma like state, and then when you log off they always show you stupid and pointless things that they try to make you download.DAMN IT! I HATE when my computer slips into a comma! it's so damn irritating and it causes short pausing to occur right in the middle of everything!
"Download the AOL security! If not, your computer will be raped by the terorists monkeys in Asia! " "Thank you for downloading the AOL security spyware, would you like to also download the Security alert center that takes up 50+mb and does absolutly nothing?" "No? Well tough sh!t, you need it. The internets is scary. But if you must, we'll just secretly download it into your computer while you surf the web; causeing major laging in anything you do on your computer."sadly, it's because of programs like AOL that I actually had to tell someone today who's planning to buy his first computer that the internet is NOT the demon hole it's portrayed to be. he actually thought that just randomly surfing sites you'll instantly get a virus, get hackers to destroy your computer, and lose all your personal information just because you're online. I had to explain to him that just being online doesn't mean that you now have barcode on your neck and that you won't be sold to slavery in uganda. it almost made me wanna cry...

MrBunsy
31 Aug 2006, 15:02
sadly, it's because of programs like AOL that I actually had to tell someone today who's planning to buy his first computer that the internet is NOT the demon hole it's portrayed to be. he actually thought that just randomly surfing sites you'll instantly get a virus, get hackers to destroy your computer, and lose all your personal information just because you're online. I had to explain to him that just being online doesn't mean that you now have barcode on your neck and that you won't be sold to slavery in uganda. it almost made me wanna cry...
Well, if you go onto the internet with no protection at all and traul dodgey sites then it can be like that.

Pigbuster
1 Sep 2006, 06:04
Those are the people who say "Ooh, a funfair midway on the internet! And the prize is a NINTENDO WII! And it's not even out yet!"

franpa
3 Sep 2006, 08:26
Not frequently during your session, just when you log on
i myself am a firefox user and think it is better then internet explorer.... however internet explorer pawns AOL and is completely free..... you get everything included with windows including outlook and you can do everything you want the way you want without any problems AND it is all free.... did i mention there is no advertising built into internet explorer either and no constant updates, and if anything uses about 20mb of ram for a single page, isn't your dial up software, can drag and drop, and is a genuinely awesome product... for a Microsoft product that is... only reason i use internet explorer tho was to get firefox... once i got it i left explorer to die in a hole.

WormOfFire
3 Sep 2006, 17:09
i myself am a firefox user and think it is better then internet explorer.... however internet explorer pawns AOL and is completely free..... you get everything included with windows including outlook and you can do everything you want the way you want without any problems AND it is all free.... did i mention there is no advertising built into internet explorer either and no constant updates, and if anything uses about 20mb of ram for a single page, isn't your dial up software, can drag and drop, and is a genuinely awesome product... for a Microsoft product that is... only reason i use internet explorer tho was to get firefox... once i got it i left explorer to die in a hole.
I think i alredy knew all that...

farazparsa
3 Sep 2006, 19:49
I think we already knew that.

BuffaloKid
3 Sep 2006, 21:24
you can do everything you want the way you want
I seriously doubt that. You underestimate the perculiarity of the things that I want.

vBulletin® v3.8.6, Copyright ©2000-2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.