For all the AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta 3 testers, you should start to receive your automatic update AppCast soon (if not, you can always use the "Check for Updates..." under the AIM menu item.


As we wrap up development for AIM for Mac 1.5, here's a list of features we delivered in the past 3 Beta releases:

• AIM conversation logging (saved AIM conversations) with Mac OS X Spotlight searching
• Growl notification support
• You can also see if your Buddies updated their social network status from a variety of social networks and RSS feeds
• Custom Buddy Icons from your iSight camera or a graphic file on your Mac
• AIM for Mac Welcome Window
• Custom Group Row colors

We've even optimized AIM for Mac's file size (it's now 30% smaller than AIM for Mac 1.1) and fixed a bunch of bugs and resolved connectivity issues. Please take a look at the Fixed Issues and Changes list (below) and please continue to send feedback.

Note for Beta 2 Users: Users testing Beta 3 will be able to use the automated upgrade system (AIM>Check for Updates...). Users moving up from Beta 2 will need to download AND install Beta 4 directly using the 'Download Beta 4' button above.

Bugs Fixed
• Fixed group renaming issue. You can now rename AIM Blast groups (http://blast.aim.com/).
• Fixed error message when encountering an issue during file transfer.
• Fixed occasional crash when inviting users to Buddy Chat.
• Fixed bug when displaying Buddy Icon image in AIM conversation logs.
• Various bug fixes and optimizations.

Other Changes
• Updated Welcome Window.
• Improved the Edit Buddy window user experience.
• The screen name, password, save in Keychain, and auto sign in fields are disabled during sign in.
• Inline group name editing was enabled.

Stay tuned for info on the next release of AIM for Mac!

Thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

Hey, what's all the growling about? After many requests from AOL users (and a bunch of employees), we've added Growl support to AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 3).

Growl is a user-controlled (go to http://growl.info to download growl) notification system that works with a variety of great Mac apps. You can control the look and placement of your notifications for all apps that support Growl.


We've also added the ability to see what your Buddies are doing on some of the most popular social networks and RSS feeds (Twitter, MySpace, Delicious, YouTube, Flickr, etc). To use the new AIM Buddy Updates feature (replacing Buddy Info), all you have to do is go to Buddy Update and add your accounts. Now when you update your favorite social network, your Buddies will see a new icon next to your Screen Name on their Buddy List.

We've also heard from a number of users having issues with connection issues. We spoke to a bunch of our loyal beta testers and the connection issues are fixed.

Note to all users of AIM for Mac Beta 2: The AOL Mac team has made changes to the automatic update system we introduced in Beta 1. With the new changes, you may see the following error when using the "Check for Updates" in Beta 2: "Update Error! The update is improperly signed."

If you've encountered this issue, please download AND install Beta 3 directly using the 'Download Beta 3' button on the AIM for Mac beta site. The automatic update mechanism will work properly when upgrading from Beta 3 to the next version.

Wait, there's more! We've added a new AIM Welcome Window that will give users a quick snapshot of what's new in that version of AIM for Mac. Stop by AOL Beta Central and download AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta 3 today!

Here's our Fixed issues and change list:

Bugs Fixed
• Fixed various connection issues.
• Fixed various crashing issues reported by our Tiger users.
• The Offline Buddy group is now sorted alphabetically.
• Reduced and optimized overall application size by 30%.

Other Changes
• AIM for Mac now supports Growl notifications (built-in translucent notification window will be available if Growl is not installed)
• When your buddies have a new update from Twitter, Flickr, or AIM, we display an icon (favicon) next to their screen name on the Buddy List.
• Changed the name (title) of the Buddy List window to AIM.
• AIM for Mac Welcome Window will now launch at startup to promote new features and services (Welcome window can be disabled via checkbox)

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

If you're a regular visitor to the Mac@AOL Blog, you will notice that the AOL Mac Team spends a great deal of time reviewing comments and requests from our users. Today, I would like to be the first to announce that we have added one of our top requested features - Custom Buddy Icons to AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 2).

Just adding a feature to drop in a graphic would have been worked, but the AOL Mac team wanted more. Here's what you can do with the new Customer Buddy Icon Editor:

• Use the built-in iSight Camera (or a Mac OS X supported USB camera) to take a snapshot that will be converted into your new Buddy Icon.

• Upload an image from your Mac (JPEG and PNGs are nice).
• Stylize your Buddy Icon with any of the built-in special image effects.

Here's a list of Fixed Issues and other changes that are in AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 2):

• Fixed an issue where the Buddy List gets pushed too far to the right when a laptop closed, unplugged, then reopened.
• Fixed various connections issues.
• Fixed "Invalid Screen Name or Password" problem when entering the correct password.
• AIM log files are now saved in new location after being changed.
• Fixed an issue where the font size increases when copying and pasting text from the conversation.

Also changed in Beta 2:

• Improved log-in mechanism that allows for better authentication.

• Moved the Group Row Theme button from the top of the Buddy List to the Buddy List preference pane.
• Enabled the auto-saving of the Buddy Info window location.
• Added an "Edit Buddy" button to the Buddy Info window toolbar.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac & iPhone Product Lead

Everyday, I spend a good chunk of my morning or late afternoon reviewing comments and sending e-mails directly to our users. I have enlisted the entire team to participate and we are well aware of the issues and feature requests our users want.

Today, I am pleased to announce our next version of AIM for Mac - version 1.5 (Beta 1). As you can see from the screenshot below, you can customize your Buddy Group Row headers (I selected my favorite color combination - Go Terps!) by clicking the colorwheel.


You can now turn on AIM Conversation Logging (under AIM>Preferences...) and AIM for Mac 1.5 will save your IM conversations to your specified AIM Log location. You can view your IM logs using your default browser and you can use Mac OS X Spotlight for easy searching.


AIM for Mac 1.5 (Beta 1) features enhanced AIM-to-SMS, allowing you to store a Mobile number with each Buddy for easy texting. Feeling like purple today? You can now change the Buddy List Group Row colors to suit your mood.

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac

One of the nice features of the Buddy List® is placing your buddies into groups for better organization. The default set of groups include AIM Bots, Buddies, Family, Co-Workers, Recent Buddies, and Offline. You can also create new groups to better categorize your buddies.

The order of the groups in your Buddy List can also be changed. However, the Recent Buddies and Offline groups will always remain at the bottom of your Buddy List.

To move a group in the Buddy List, just drag the group row to a new position. You can do this by clicking on the group row and holding down the mouse button as you move the cursor. As you move the cursor below other groups in the list, you will see a blue line indicating a valid drop zone. The cursor must be moved over the triangle disclosure buttons in order for the blue line to appear. When the blue line is in the location where you want to place the group, release the mouse button. The group row will then be moved to the new location.

This may seem a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will find that moving groups is very easy.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

** Republished **

We appreciate all the support from our AIM for Mac 1.0 users. Our goal for 2009 is to keep the progress going. We shipped the 1.0 version in December to build the foundation for a new AIM for Mac and we'll continue to build on that base. This week, we released AIM for Mac 1.1 Beta 1 to address some immediate issues reported by our users. In the coming months, we'll be adding new features requested by our users through the blog and AOL Beta Central.


Here's the list of fixed issues for Beta 1:

• ICQ accounts can now sign in
• Added Notes field to the Edit Buddy window
• Signing in issue after installing application
• IMs from iPhone AIM are displayed with a very large font size
• Invisibility goes away when switching "screens"
• Overlapping buddy list rows
• Enhancements to Buddy List search

Please continue to let us know what features you would like to see in AIM for Mac.

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone 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

Wow, can't believe it's December already. Well, right before Thanksgiving, the AOL Mac Team has revved two of our most popular applications - AIM for Mac 1.0 Beta 5 and AOL Desktop for Mac 1.5 Beta 7.

Fixed issues for AIM for Mac Beta 5:

• 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
• Updated AIM Start Page to point to AIM Dashboard
• Fixed issue when users with multiple monitors losing the display of their Buddy List
• CMD + F will now open the Buddy List Search box
• General stability and performance optimizations

AIM for Mac is built into AOL Desktop for Mac so you can get the same great features and ease-of-use. Drop by AOL Beta Central to download the new beta!

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

The AOL Mac Team has released the fourth beta for AIM for Mac 1.0. We've fixed a bunch of bugs and working toward our general release in the near future. If you have any comments or suggestions, please use the comment system below.

For those behind corporate firewalls, we added a new connections tab to the Preferences. We've also worked to streamline the authentication process so it's faster and more reliable.






Here's a list of items fixed for Beta 4:

• Added Connection Tab to AIM for Mac Preferences to allow users to specify AIM Server and port when behind firewalls
• Fixed Quick Away toggle icon when Quick Away message is set
• Updated Installer to enforce minimum system requirements for Mac OS X (10.5.2 or higher)
• Fixed issue with My Buddy Info window when user is offline
• Updated default AIM Server and port to kdc.uas.aol.com on port 443
• Fixed issue with font selection for IM conversations (when setting new default font)
• Updated default emoticon set to a smoother and more modern emoticons

Please download and check it out. Make sure you don't have any previous versions of the installer mounted! Click the Eject icon to the right of the mounted DMG name.

Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead

AIM for Mac 1.0 beta 3 is now available. We've added some new features, updated the user interface at the top of the Buddy List and fixed many bugs. We even shortened the AIM installer, less clicks, quicker install :)

New Features: We added a Quick Status/Away button, right next to the Invisible Button. If you're in a hurry, just click the "sticky note" and you'll set your away message. Invisible mode will allow you to "drop off the grid" but keep receiving updates from your Buddies. This comes in handy when you're busy and need to focus (or playing Call of Duty 4 :)

You can now add a "Friendly Name" or nickname to your Buddy. No need to remember who "Buddy350" is anymore!

Here's what we fixed (or added) in this beta release:

• Redesigned Buddy List header area and added Quick Status and Away toggle
• Will not set the default aim: URL handler automatically
• Fixed issue when user clicks an aim: URL outside of AIM for Mac or AOL Desktop for Mac
• Find Buddy search box is now toggled using the magnifying glass icon
• Will now auto-format phone numbers so users can send IMs to SMS text message capable phones
• Fixed issue for Tiger users to correctly display status messages on the Buddy List
• Preference window will now remember size/screen position
• Fixed auto-accept file transfer preferences when user closes and reopens application
• Fixed hyperlink issue when user receives a URL from a Buddy
• When initiating an IM session by clicking the Send Instant Message button on bottom toolbar, users will now see the status of the Buddy
• Fixed issue when clicking a hyperlink with an '@' symbol
• Added support to edit Friendly Names on the Buddy List
• AIM for Mac will now support file transfers from unknown senders
• Fixed a crash bug when editing a Buddy in a 'Smart Group' (AIM host predefined group)
• Fixed issue when user receives an IM from a Buddy that has a white font with a black background
• Fixed a crash bug for Leopard users when changing view options on Offline Buddies while Buddy List is minimized
• Fixed issue when user logs in with screen name that contains an underscore '_'
• Fixed issue when transparent font background is missing from IM default font settings
• Disabled changing group of an offline Buddy

Drop by AOL Beta Central to download your copy of AIM for Mac 'Sneak Peek'

Thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac 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

Now that you had time to review the cool new MacBook's :), the AOL Mac Team is pleased to announce that Beta 2 of AIM for Mac is now out. Take a look at the new features and fixed issues:

• Webmail button will now display unread mail count

• Users can now send and receive files when away or to buddies that are away
• Buddy Wallpaper should appear in IM window if the Offline Buddy signs in.
• Overall improvements to user interface of Buddy List
• Able to invoke Multiple "Chat Invitation" window
• File Transfer status always shows connecting if the option "Auto-accept file transfer from buddies on my buddy list" is checked.
• AIM for Mac will not set the AIM handler upon application launch
• Added support to viewing Friendly Names in AIM
• Added a new contextual menu item "Clear History" to the IM Conversation History area
• Added the Edit Buddy feature to change the nickname, email address, and group for a buddy
• Fixed issue when managing screen name
• Fixed crash when searching the Buddy List
• Fixed other various issues including some accessibility issues
• Fixed a bug where the "ACCEPT" button appears on the IM conversation screen when another application gains focus

Please continue to send feedback and bug reports and we'll keep improving AIM for Mac. Thanks to all our beta testers who submitted feedback and bug reports.

Enjoy!
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

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac Beta

By default your buddies in the Buddy List are displayed in groups, with the last one being the Offline group. You will initially see all of your buddies in the Offline group, and when a buddy comes online, they will immediately be moved to their pre-assigned online group.


You can hide the Offline group by clicking on the View menu and selecting Offline Buddies > Do Not Show. Then, your Offline group will disappear.


You can also show your offline buddies within each of the groups by clicking on the View menu and selecting Offline Buddies > Show in Groups. You will still not have an Offline group and all of your offline buddies will be displayed.

Experiment with these offline settings to find the display the suits you the best. To find more configuration options for the Buddy List, look in the application preferences.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team