[angelmb]

I wonder how many people have this AOL software installed… what actually bothers me is that Little Snitch yells about some connections it does (or want to), I am almost sure those are just to authenticate my AOL screen name & login, then there is the typical blueaolwhatever server aimed to display news within the built-in web browser, not a huge issue to worry about since same thing happens with any standalone web browser every-time I read my AOL mail…

So in a nutshell, is there anything to worry about?, I mean, this stuff is free, I don't want my phone bill to be inflated by some hidden dial-whatever process…

AOL Greenhouse Product Info for Cheshire

Thanks.

[angelmb]

bump to add an image…

[pendragon]

While I have not installed Cheshire (yet), I do have the free AOL account. That too "pinged" Little Snitch. I OK'd the connection and all has been problem free.

I think the connection issue is a non-started and you'll be fine.

FWIW: Perhaps AOL has (finally) caught on and is producing a solid (and free) email client. The initial reviews have been quite favorable, especially for a beta product. When you have had a chance to test Cheshire, please post your thoughts.

[angelmb]

Thanks for your input.

Well, I have used Cheshire for some days. I like how easy is to set up your AOL account, there is no need to deal with IMAP this or POP that… write down your screen name, password and you are done, ready to check the e-mail, use AIM…

The mail client works fine and fast, but it really needs to provide some feedback about common actions like checking mail, downloading or sending mail… anyway, all this is way faster than doing it via AOL's web-mail. There is an annoying issue with AOL Mail when you check it as web-mail, as long as you read any mail in your Inbox folder, such e-mail is no longer available, you have to move it so Saved Mail to keep it, this is different to the behavior for the sister's AOL mail service dubbed AIM Mail where every mail is available at your Inbox folder. With Cheshire's mail client this is not an issue since you have an additional folder named 'Old Mail', there go the mails you have already read in opposite to the 'New Mail' folder which is obviously aimed to unread e-mails.

Mail folder as seen on Cheshire mail client Vs. AOL web-mail Vs. AIM web-mail



The browser is meh-who-freaking-cares… it is OK to check let's say an URL you got at your mail but it lacks tabs, so if you rely on tabs to your web experience, better stick to your trusted browser whatever that means.

I don't not use neither AOL Radio nor AOL Pictures, so I can not say a single word about them, but as you say, people says the integration with iPhoto works great.

What I don't like… this Cheshire is really ugly. All of it, from the icon to the horizontal bar which it is easily avoidable just going to the app's menu items. This horizontal bar has some issues, it eats a good real state screen space, the icons are so-so, and if you choose to use text instead of icons you don't get visual feedback about new mails or the log-in process, even so I think it is better than the space-eater icon mode, to each its own though…

band-aid… really?



A previous version of the AOL client had a toy-like icons which were fun… you can see it here within the built-in browser.



Last but not least, I replaced the ugly AOL icon that is used as Cheshire icon with this one made by David Lanham which plays nicely with the AOL triangle and the AOL Greenhouse website.

[pendragon]

Thanks for the review and feedback. It's greatly appreciated. Also, I liked the icon.

FWIW, I do have AOL Radio and use it daily. It's like having 200+ stations of XM radio, but free. Hardly major issues, but I wish it had more than 5 presets and a mini-equalizer like Real Audio and iTunes.

Have you any opinions/experience with iChat and Cheshire?

[angelmb]

Originally Posted by pendragon 

Have you any opinions/experience with iChat and Cheshire?

Well, there is not much I can say since I don't have iChat installed 'here' -I am giving Adium 1.0.1 a try- and, as opposed to the mail and web browser clients, you can't choose anything besides iChat as AIM client to run. Don't worry, I'll install Cheshire into the second hard disk inside my Power Mac, that would let me see how it works with iChat and if there is any issue running Cheshire under Tiger Server.

As for the icon, you can find it here:
Iconfactory : Freeware : Agua Apps Vol. 1

Besides just doing a copy&paste for Cheshire icon I would also export it as 'Icon.icns' from some app like Pixadex, so once you got the original file with the same name inside the app's Resources replaced, you would get also that cute icon at, let's say, the About… window.

[angelmb]

Well, Cheshire also works fine with Tiger Server. The integration with iChat is 'reduced' to open it and log in automatically when you launch Cheshire, if you tell the app you don't want it that way, you only have to click on the IM icon inside the blue AOL toolbar and iChat would launch and log in to your AIM account automatically.

I still don't get the need of such blue toolbar, placing a menu's item extra would do it just fine and would be way more elegant. You would avoid having the Toolbar moved to right (or left) if your Dock is sitting at one margin of the screen instead of at the bottom of the screen.

Here you can see what happens when your Dock is placed at the left margin, the AOL Toolbar moves to the right to avoid taking over the place where the Dock could potentially be placed… versus how it would be if that wasn't the issue.



You can kinda reduce the amount of space wasted by the Toolbar having it only showing text instead of icons, but at this moment there is not an option to get rid of it. I laugh at those old 'Dock must go!!' claims…

So far, IMHO, the nicest feature is the mail client, which is lighting quick !!

BTW, what is your experience with the previous AOL client for Mac OS X?, is it worth a try?, even if so to check how fancy it is…

[pendragon]

I am using AOL 10.3.7 and like it fine- it just works, though I only use the email (and AIM for iChat and AOL Radio). I travel a bit, so having my email available 24-7 (including Address Book etc.) wherever I can find an internet connection is a strong plus.

I could list many pros and cons of this app, but for me, the pros far out weigh the cons. YMMV.

FWIW; The days of angst and teeth gnashing re migrating/transfering Address Book, Favorites, and Calendar to Apple's Mail, Address Book, Safari, and iCal are a thing of the past thanks to AOL's Service Assistant: Macintosh Downloads - AOL Downloads

AOL 10.3.7 is not UB, but if you are only interested in the email, then this is probably not a big issue. OTOH, like chicken soup, it can't hurt.

[angelmb]

Thanks again for your time, you have to be the only one running AOL software over here

Well, I just installed that 10.3.7 AOL software and it is really nicer than Cheshire -aesthetically speaking- the toolbar is cool to look at, the icons on it are good looking, beyond compare with those from Cheshire which is sad… a picture is worth a thousand words…



It seems this AOL app would like to set up a internet connection instead of just asking me about my AOL username and password like Cheshire does… well, doesn't matter, let's wait and hope Cheshire would evolve into something nicer than the present manifestation.

[pendragon]

A little known "feature"...

Even though you were not asked, the AOL 10.3.7 installer stuck a copy of "AOL for OS X Backup Installer' in your ~/Preferences folder. If you choose, it is safe to delete. Should you ever need to reinstall, it can easily be re downloaded.

As for the icons, not much of an issue for me as I turned them off in AOL's Preferences.

If you don't like the automatic log in, that too can be corrected in AOL>Preferences/Passwords.

[angelmb]

Thanks for the hint

Maybe I was not clear enough about the log-in / set-up issue, my fault.

When I launch Cheshire I just have to write my screen name & password down and I am able to check my mail, do AIM… but with the AOL 10.3.7 client, this is what I get at launch…





Which is something that confuses me… there is no way to avoid the setup process and do a login as you can do with Cheshire?, see below:



By "AOL>Preferences" do you maybe mean "Account Settings"?, there is no Preferences menu item here. Even so, it is greyed-out (dimmed) since I have not completed the setup thing.



Maybe I get it wrong… maybe the 10.3.7 is aimed to use with AOL as ISP instead of a different ISP while the newer Cheshire was created with the new free stuff AOL provides to anyone… could be?

Thanks again… and again.

[pendragon]

Since I have never used Cheshire, I do not know if there is a way to avoid the setup required by v10.3.7.

You can always try the third option (at the bottom) of the Welcome window (it’s worth a try), e.g., “Copy the settings from an older version…” Perhaps you will then be allowed to navigate to Cheshire and use the settings from there. If not, I suggest the normal way. In either case, in 5 minutes you’ll have your answer.

Also, 10.3.7 is not aimed at those who (only) use AOL as their ISP, though they will do that too if you wish. In my case, Comcast is my ISP and 10.3.7 works fine on top of that.

You do not have 10.3.7 preferences because you have not (yet) completed the installation process. When that is done, you will have preferences in the menu bar: AOL>Preferences.

[houstonmacbro]

Wow ... I just downloaded AOL Radio and it ROX.

[pendragon]

A nifty feature of AOL Radio (IMNHO): When returning to AOL Radio, the volume slider is fully to the left (muted), and as the Radio loads to the last preset, the volume gently/smoothly increases to its last setting, thus avoiding any loud-blaring "greeting". Just a nice touch-

[angelmb]

What the heck?

[angelmb]

Well, running the old AOL app, the one with the nifty icons… but I can not see how to 'read' my Saved on AOL mails…

[angelmb]

How do you prevent AOL from log-in into the AIM account automatically when AOL app is launched?, I can not see an option as with Cheshire.

[ejd]

Hi -

My team is responsible for Cheshire - thanks for trying it and thanks even more for writing about what you like and dislike. Cheshire's a test product so we're using all the feedback we get to make it better.

Some answers:

• Expiring versions: as noted, Cheshire's a test so releases have a limited life span while we're in development. New versions can be downloaded from greenhouse.aol.com and there's a new version up there now. Usually we notify users of the new version before the old one expires but we messed up with this one. Sorry about that, won't happen again.
  
• Right now iChat is the default IM tool. There's no option to change this and you'll notice that there aren't many options. Cheshire's simple.
  
• You can't read Saved On AOL mail with the old client. You can get to that from Cheshire or from webmail on AOL.com
  
• As you've noticed the old client has a pretty arcane setup process. You can't get around that but it's something we've fixed for Cheshire - most users can just sign on.
  
• As you guessed, the network connection to ats-rcd.dial.aol.com is part of AOL's proprietary login process. When you connect over a broadband connection there's no actual dialing up being done.

Cheers-
Ed

[angelmb]

Hi Ed,

thank you very much for sharing your time with us. Cheshire build127 is working flawless. I can even save mail on my Mac with this update -besides doing it so as an online option-.

Keep the great work up.

[angelmb]

just a heads-up, got this notification right now…

[pendragon]

Thanks for the update!

[Thinine]

What the hell? We have to go back to the crappy old version?

[angelmb]

Does anyone know where Cheshire keeps the 'Saved On My Mac' e-mail stuff ?, since we can't read the saved on AOL mail with the old client I guess I can forward it to my AOL account 'again' and once it is on my inbox move it to a created folder, so I can avoid to have to read it (saved mail) via AOL webmail… better suggestion, anyone?

I think we could expect the next client to be really good since Cheshire was great so far.

[angelmb]

too late… webmail here I go,

[angelmb]

Well… since we have to use the old client at least give it a proper icon, the one from the AOL Communicator suite would do it…



if you like it and don't want to avoid the whole Communicator thing in order to use it, send me a private and I would e-mail it for you (I guess uploading it anywhere would go against AOL legal mumbo jumbo. I don't want to mess with that and then lost my AOL account.

[angelmb]

new AOL Desktop for Mac, download time !!

Mac@AOL Blog

[angelmb]

Well, they call it beta for a reason… (far from being rock solid).

Anyway, the interface surely needs a new face, I think AOL could redo it from their own OpenRide project and dress it with an iTunes-like interface… hey, everyone is doing it !!



IMHO that yells I wanna be like iTunes… sadly AOL Desktop for Mac doesn't even look that good.