We have been making significant changes in AOL Desktop for Mac to the way your mail is handled internally. As a result of these changes, we channeled the work being done for the AOL Desktop for Mac 1.6 beta into a new effort that fully supports this new mail architecture.

We are pleased to announce that AOL Desktop for Mac 1.7 beta is here! We want your help as we rely on you, our member and tester, to provide feedback that can be used to improve the quality of our software.

What you need to know before you get started:

• Downloading AOL Desktop for Mac 1.7 will indicate you are participating in this test and that you want to be an early Mac adopter for the new mail architecture.
• Previous releases of AOL Desktop for Mac (including 1.6) will not support the new mail architecture. You will not be able to use 1.6 or earlier versions to access your mail and there is no migrating back.
• If you store mail locally ("On My Mac") in AOL Desktop for Mac, please follow these instructions to move your mail to host storage.

In the event you encounter any issues using the new Desktop beta, including any issues affecting your mail experience, please report them. We ask that that you use webmail as your default email client until all issues are resolved.

Do you want to participate without affecting your current account? You can, but you must follow these instructions carefully.

As always, thank you for your support!

The AOL Mac Team has worked very closely with a large number of our users and we're tackling one of the biggest issues reported by our users - mail performance. AOL Desktop for Mac 1.6 is focused mainly on performance. You'll see improved mail perfomance and a new Mailbox Activity panel that will tell you what's going! As usual, please leave a comment below and we'll make sure we answer your questions.
Head over to AOL Beta Central to get a copy today!

What is fixed in 1.6?

• Overall improvements and optimizations for Mail. Mailbox optimization process has been added and will improve mail performance.
• Fixed embedded mail graphic issue for Safari 4 users.
• Fixed attachments using AppleDouble encoding.
• Fixed in-line attachments to mail messages.
• Fixed various memory issues to improve stability of application.
• Fixed a mail duplication issue when mail is moved from Inbox to a folder and back again.
• Fixed naming of folders with special characters.
• Fixed an issue when attempting to rename a mail folder.
• Emoticons will now render correctly when viewing AIM logs.

There are some new Known Issues as well, make sure to check them out.

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Important Notes:

• Users with large mailboxes may experience increased Mail Activity on first sign-in while we optimize your mailbox. Optimization time depends on the speed of your Macintosh, your Internet connection and number of mail messages in your mailbox. You may continue to read and send mail while mail optimization is running. You can view the status of the mail optimization by viewing the Mail Activity progress in the lower left side of the mailbox.

Other Beta User Notes:

• Both the GM version of AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 and AOL Desktop for Mac 1.6 Beta 1 will coexist on the same Macintosh.
• When we released AOL Desktop for Mac 1.0-1.5, we changed the mail folder structure so that you can try out new betas of AOL Desktop without changing your GM setup. You can move your mail folder between Beta and GM by moving the mail folders located under ~User/Application Support/ on your Mac OS X user account.

Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Product Lead

Attention Safari 4 users!

We have identified an issue for users who have upgraded to Apple's Safari 4.0 browser, which shares the web component with AOL Desktop for Mac. Safari 4 users have reported that images embedded in mail messages are not displaying (see image below), even if you have the preference selected.


Here's the workaround provided by AOL Member Services and Scott B., our superstar QA Engineer.

Please follow these four steps:

1. Launch & Sign into AOL Desktop for Mac.

2. Open AOL Desktop for Mac Preferences - from the menu items, go to
AOL Desktop->Preferences->Mail

3. Uncheck the box that says "Notify me before opening new mail with pictures".


4. Then when you restart AOL Desktop your mail images should load.

Please leave a comment below to let us know if this worked for you.

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

The AOL Mac Team is pleased to announce the newest update to our beta program for AIM for Mac 1.0. You can get AIM for Mac 1.0 Beta 6 from AOL Beta Central. After you download and install AIM for Mac, please make sure you head back to AOL Beta Central to leave your feedback and bug reports. This is our only way to get a very wide sampling of issues our users are experiencing so we can get them fixed before we release the software.

Here's what's fixed in Beta 6:

• Fixed various contextual issues when user has multiple IM sessions grouped in one conversation window
• Fixed auto-complete of IM Blasts on compose IM form
• Fixed switching screen name issue when password is saved in Mac OS X Keychain
• Fixed various accessibility issues with VoiceOver when announcing interface elements
• Fixed issue when updating AIM blocked user list
• Fixed Buddy Chat window hang if Buddy rejects the chat invitation by closing Chat window
• If the Buddy Info window is open, changing to other screen names on the Buddy List will update the Buddy Info window accordingly
• Fixed issue when some phone numbers were not properly formatted for IM to SMS messaging
• Fixed issue where AIM away message title was not editable

Did you know that the same AIM for Mac 1.0 is built into AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta?

We're making sure that all the new features and fixes are found in both apps. If you like AIM for Mac, drop by the AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta program to see what's going on with our new AOL all-in-one software.

Thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

I dropped a small hint in my previous post :) The AOL Mac Team has been busy working on new beta updates for our AOL Mac apps. You can now get your hands on AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta 7 at AOL Beta Central. As with previous builds, you'll find the updated AIM (same as the standalone version) and these fixes:

• AOL Parental Controls Assistant has fixed some minor UI issues and has been added to AOL Desktop for Mac Help
• Improved VoiceOver accessibility with respect to navigation, button labels and user experience
• Added the ability to report IM abuse to AOL - if a user gets an IM, they will have the ability to send a report to AOL and block sender
• Fixed issue when users with multiple monitors losing the display of their Buddy List
• Fixed "Set as Default" when editing or managing away messages in Preferences
• Fixed attachment size display issue
• Fixed attachments that are in mail drafts folder under specific conditions
• Fixed mail editing issue when trying to split a line of text for outgoing mail message
• Clicking on Report IM Spam for a Block screen name unblocks the screen name
• General stability and performance optimizations

Please keep the feedback coming and report any bugs you may have encountered.

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Product Lead

We released a quick update to AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 to fix a major mail issue for some users. When running AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta 4, some users are experiencing a blank message window when replying or forwarding an e-mail. Drop by AOL Beta Central for the new beta.

Also, some users have reported that they are having issues when installing AOL Desktop for Mac. Here's how to make your installation experience flawless.

1. Check your Apple Desktop or Mac OS X Downloads folder for you Leopard users.
2. Drag any older AOL Desktop for Mac installers to the Mac OS X trash can.

That should take care of it!

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

We're very happy with the reception we're getting with AIM for Mac beta. We appreciate the support. Now, it's AOL Desktop's turn. You can now get your hands on the next Beta for AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5. We're focusing on improving the mail experience by optimizing the downloading of the various components of mail. We're hoping to relieve the message content loading delays some users are finding on PowerPC Macs.

Here's a list of the fixed issues for Beta 4:

• Improved mail performance by optimizing the downloading of message header, body and attachments
• Users can now save mail as plain text files
• When sending mail with large attachments, users can now cancel the outgoing mail
• Fixed issue when users changed their mail view from Inbox back to New/Old/Sent
• AIM now supports friendly names in the Buddy List
• Fixed issue in Buddy Chat where Screen Names in the group should be listed when sending a Buddy Chat invite to a group
• Fixed AIM preference when "Play event sounds" are turned off
• Added AOL Yellow Pages toolbar icon

As usual, please leave feedback on the AOL Beta Central Feedback, Bug Reports or Message Boards.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

We're on our way to AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 (currently in beta), the AOL Mac Team has posted a small update to AOL Desktop for Mac (now version 1.2.1). What's fixed in this update? Check out our fixed issues list:

• Fixed Mail Outbox issue where mail is resent from the Outbox on subsequent sign-in sessions.
• Fixed issues reading mail where "Message Content Loading" was observed and the mail content never loaded.
• Fixed Trash folder issue where deleted mail from the Sent folder showed "Sent To" instead of "Send From" in the mail header.
• Added Spell Check button to the Mail Compose window toolbar overflow.
• Changed 'open Spell Check dialog box' keyboard short cut to COMMAND - ; (Command-semi-colon).

Please drop me a comment if this update improves your AOL Desktop for Mac experience. We're going to continue to release updates to AOL Desktop for Mac and bring all-new AOL Mac apps in the near future!

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

The AOL Mac Team is delighted to present AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta 3. You can download the new beta at AOL Beta Central. As for all of our betas, please make sure you do not use it for any mission critical purposes. It's just a test version on our way to a final candidate version.

Highlights of the latest beta build include:

• Default font, font size and style preferences have been added for AIM and Mail

• Outbox resend issues have been fixed
• Improved performance of mailbox to reduce the "Message Content Loading" wait times
• When replying to an e-mail, signature will be placed in the correct insertion point, based on user Preference
• Spell check can now be added to the Compose Mail toolbar
• Spell check dialog box can now be activated by pressing CMD-;
• Transferring the same file twice displays a link to the location (such as Desktop) instead of the file name
• File Transfer notifications interrupt typing in different tab instead of appearing in background
• AIM now behaves as expected when you launch a VPN connection when already signed in with AIM
• Offline users on Buddy List will now appear with italics font style
• Improved knock-knock dialog box for IMs and file transfers from unknown senders
• Fixed AIM drag-and-drop file transfer issue
• Improved performance and user interface for built-in AIM

• Improved accessibility support for AIM file transfer
• Users can now reattach torn-off browser windows by dragging the tab back to the target browser window
• Added Delete to allow users to delete a Buddy on the AIM Buddy List using the contextual menu command
• Improved accessibility to allow delete spam from mail toolbar
• Improved performance for Tiger OS users when user is online and Airport is turned on/off
• Support for Mac OS X Fast User Switching now supported

Please leave comments here on the Mac@AOL Blog or submit a bug report or feedback on AOL Beta Central.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

I have been getting a lot of comments and feedback on this issue: How do I add all of my screen names? Well, it's easy - every time you log in with a different screen name, it will be added to your screen name list. After your screen names are on the list, you can switch any time.


We're looking to automatically add all screen names associated with a single master account. More to come in a future post.

You can get more AOL Desktop for Mac How To articles by visiting AOL Support Portal for Mac.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

Every morning, I spend a good chunk of my time reviewing user feedback. We have a feedback link in AOL Desktop for Mac and the Mac@AOL Blog will allow you to leave comments. I also review user feedback with our developers and AOL management team so we can get those issues addressed.

One comment has been bubbling up to the top - Spell Check.

Automatic Spell Check
We've added automatic spell check, where you will see a red squiggly line that indicates that you need to check spelling on a word.



On Demand Spell Check
If you'd like to control spell check, you can press COMMAND + SHIFT + ; (semicolon) to bring up the spelling and grammar check dialog box.



You can also select Spell Check from the Edit Menu Item.



From the Spelling Menu Item, you can select Check Spelling or Check Spelling as You Type. In a future release of AOL Desktop for Mac, we will be make spell check easier to find, right on the Mail compose window. The AOL Mac Team values your comments and we are definitely listening!

thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

You're browsing on your Mac (hopefully using AOL Desktop for Mac :), and your buddy sends you an IM to say that last nights Daily Show or Colbert Report was must-see TV, but you forgot to record it on your PVR. Guess what, you can now view the ENTIRE show on AOL Video's Hulu channel. Did I mention it's FREE. Yep, no fees and you can watch a variety of shows from other AOL partners as well.

Stop by today and get caught up on your favorite shows. You can also add the AOL Video button to your toolbar, check out the AOL Toolbar customization instructions for more info (not to mention adding Write Mail, AOL Radio and even TMZ to your toolbar!).

Enjoy!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

We understand that some of our users have been vocal (well, that's an understatement for some of our loyal users :) so AOL is continuing our commitment to the Mac platform by releasing the second beta for AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5, the next version of the all-in-one Internet application.

The AOL Mac Team is not taking a break this summer. We released AIM for iPhone and AOL Radio for iPhone and now we'll be following up with AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 beta. This new beta program will focus on the next major update of the AOL all-in-one Internet software.

Our goals for this release are:

• AIM File Transfer now enabled. Users can send files directly to other AIM users.
• Users can now tear off browser tabs (and merge browser windows back to tabs).
• Users can now log in with their .Mac user IDs and passwords.
• All AOL Screen Names associated with an account will now appear in the Sign-In window drop-down list.
• Mail header switching issues have been resolved.

We're looking to make window management better and pull all screen names associated with an account after you first log in. For all you AIM fans, you can now use AIM File Transfer to send files to your Buddies without firing up FTP or attaching to e-mail.

All of these features have been requested by our users and we're making sure we continually make AOL Desktop for Mac the best Internet app on the Mac. Please continue to use the Beta Feedback or leave a comment on the Mac@AOL Blog.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

Today AOL released AOL Desktop for Mac 1.2 that resolves mail and AIM issues our customers have reported for the past few weeks. This is our second update to AOL Desktop for Mac which was launched in early May, 2008.

Changes in AOL Desktop for Mac 1.2:

• Fixed mail display issues where addressee/subject did not match
• Fixed various issues with AIM that may lead to crash on some systems

During first-run of AOL Desktop for Mac 1.2, your online mail folders will be re-synchronized. This is a one-time operation that will increase performance on subsequent launches of AOL Desktop for Mac 1.2. You can continue to use AOL Desktop for Mac 1.2 during the re-synchronization.

Please report any issues using the Feedback button on the application toolbar. Any specific information about connection type and speed, whether you are using wireless, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Try out the new update and let us know how it works for you. You can download it from discover AOL in the Free AOL Downloads section. We will try to respond to comments that have an email address, but rest assured, every comment is read and evaluated by our team.

Thanks...
Larry Aasen
Developer, AOL Desktop for Mac Team