We recently updated the AIM for Mac with Beta 3 and a few of our users have reported issues with slow performance, especially those with a very long Facebook Friends list. If you are experiencing periods of slow performance or beach balling, try hiding your Offline Buddies.

To hide Offline Buddies, start with the View menu. Then click Offline Buddies and then Do Not Show. After hiding Offline Buddies your Offline group will be removed and you will no longer see offline users.

If you continue to experience performance issues please contact us from the Help > Feedback menu.

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

If you cannot Sign In and you see this message, "Unconfirmed User Name", or "Unconfirmed Screen Name", or "Account Not Confirmed", it means that you registered your email address as a screen name, but have not clicked the confirmation link in the confirmation email. Before you can Sign In to AIM, you must first click on the confirmation link to confirm your account.

In the confirmation email sent you by AOL (Screen Name Service), you will see this link:
"Yes, I made this request and I want to reserve this email address as part of the AOL Screen Name Service". Click on that link to confirm your screen name. You will be asked to enter your password again to complete the confirmation process. That's it! Now you are ready to Sign In to AIM.

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

We added support for Growl in AIM for Mac version 1.5 so users could get notifications when new IMs arrived, and when buddies went online and offline. There are a few other Growl events as well. To see these events and more, display the Growl settings where you can enable and disable each Growl event separately.

1. Run the System Preferences application.
2. In the Other section at the bottom of the System Preferences window, click on Growl.
3. On the Growl settings window, click on the Applications tab.
4. Click the AIM application in the list and then click the Configure... button at the bottom of the page.
5. Click the Notifications tab.
6. There you will see a Notification pop up button that is displaying Alerts. Click on that pop up button.
7. There you will see a list of all of the notification events that are supported by AIM.
8. Select the event you want to configure, like "Buddy Signed In".
9. You can click the check box next to Enabled to turn on that notification. The change takes place immediately.
   

We hope you enjoy the usefulness of Growl notifications. Take some time to get familiar with the other Growl settings to make your Growl experience more pleasing to you.

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

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

On this edition of Feedback Friday (ok, maybe I'm a few hours late :) we'll be covering a bit more on Mac OS X System Requirements for AOL's Mac products, AIM for Mac 1.5 Beta and the new iBlog.

Q: I am currently running on 10.4.11. Checked Apple Software updates and I do not have any.

A: Apple provides updates for each major version for free. This means that all 10.3.0 through 10.3.9, 10.4.0 through 10.4.11 and 10.5.0 through 10.5.6 are absoultely free. But an upgrade from 10.3.9 to 10.4 or 10.4 to 10.5 will require a purchase from Apple (usually for $129 per Mac).

AOL is supporting 10.4.8 through 10.4.11 and 10.5.3 through 10.5.6. We currently don't support 10.4.8 or below for AOL Desktop for AIM for Mac.

Q: I am having difficulty logging into AIM for Mac?

A: Our QA Engineer Harry has the following suggestions:

Questions needing to be asked are:
* Do you save your password in the keychain (is the save in keychain box checked...See image below)?

* Have you tried going into your System preferences to remove the keychain?

~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain

Sometimes, even inputting the incorrect password when the correct password has already been saved will allow you to connect, then the keychain takes the incorrect one to replace the correct one. If this is the case, deleting the keychain should resolve the situation for you.

Q: When is A/V support for AIM for Mac coming?

A: Short answer, it's something we would all like to have and it's at the top of our feature request list. We have some near term issues to resolve and we'll have more info this summer.

Q: I would like to edit/change my Buddy Icon.

A: Stay tuned! We'll have more info coming soon (hint, hint)!


Q: How do I find out more info on AOL's iPhone products?

A: Venture on down to the AOL iBlog (http://iblog.aol.com)

I'll be back next week for another installment of Feedback Friday.

thanks!
Lee Givens
AOL Mac & iPhone Product Lead

You're running late for a meeting and you almost forgot to set your Away message for AIM. Just click the "sticky note" icon and AIM for Mac will automatically set your status and away message.


When the Quick Away Toggle is activated, you'll see that the icon changes to the depressed state and your status and away message are automatically set for you. Right next to the Quick Away Toggle is the Invisibility toggle. Why would you want to be invisible? Say you need to focus on a project, you can click the Invisible toggle and you will "appear" offline to all your Buddies, but you can still see what they're up to. Both toggles are right there, under your Buddy Icon.

If you have any requests for features, please drop me a comment below! Get AIM for Mac Beta 4 today...

Thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead (and iPhone too!)

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac

Here are just a few of the keyboard shortcuts available in AIM for Mac.

• You can show the Buddy List window using the keyboard shortcut Shift-Command-B.
• You can switch between tabs in the conversation window using the keyboard shortcuts. Just press Shift-Command-Right Arrow or Shift-Command-Left Arrow.

• You can display the Preferences window using the keyboard shortcut Command-Comma (,) as in most other applications.
• To Sign Out of your AIM session just press Option-Command-S.
• When you want to add a nickname to a buddy just display the Edit Buddy window by using the keyboard shortcut Command-E.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac

When you are in a conversation with a buddy and you send a message, that message is displayed in the upper portion of the window in the conversation history. Likewise, when your buddy sends you a message, it is also displayed in the conversation history. The conversation history provides a nice chronological listing of the messages of your conversation.

You can remove the time stamps from the messages in the conversation history by un-checking the "Show timestamp" option in the IM Preferences tab. This will make the history area narrower and will allow you to make the entire conversation window narrower.

Sometimes during a conversation you wait and wait for your buddy to respond and you might wonder if they are actually responding to you. Luckily, there is a typing indicator displayed next to your buddy's name in the tab well on the left side of the conversation window. It is a little pencil icon that is only displayed when your buddy is actually typing. See the screen shot below.


There are many more features of the conversation window that make instant messaging fun and easy with AIM for Mac. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

Focus on Features - AIM for Mac

With the AIM for Mac beta you can quickly and easily transfer files to your buddies. There are two ways to start the file transfer. The easier way is to drag a file from the Finder to a buddy on your Buddy List. Another way is to use the menu "People > Send Files" which displays a File Selection window where you can choose a file and click Send.

Either method for starting a file transfer works well, but the drag and drop feature is the fastest method. You can drop a file onto a buddy in your Buddy List, or drop a file in the compose area of an existing conversation. The file transfer will start immediately by sending a message to your buddy asking for approval to send the file. As soon as your buddy approves, the file will be sent.

When the file transfer begins you will see a File Transfer Strip appear in the history area of the IM Conversation window. This strip displays the name of the file and provides controls to Reveal the File in Finder and to Cancel the Transfer. You can also immediately open the file by clicking on the file name in the strip.
During the transfer you will see a spinner icon on the strip to show the progress of the transfer. When the transfer is complete you will see the word "Finished" to indicate a normal completion of the file transfer.

When you receive a file transfer from a buddy you will see the same File Transfer Strip with the same controls. The only difference is that the icon on the left side of the strip will be a green down arrow, instead of the green up arrow.

Folders can also be transferred just as easily as a file. Just drag the folder to your buddy and that folder and all files and sub folders will be sent.

We have found the File Transfer feature in AIM for Mac to be very reliable and fast. We hope you enjoy it as well.

Thanks for trying AIM for Mac!

Larry Aasen
AOL Mac Team

A quick note from our AIM for iPhone team...

If you're experiencing issues with connecting to the AIM network, just try the following:

1. Go to the Home screen on your iPhone
2. Click Settings and go to the AIM settings (below Photos-All 3rd party apps have settings under the standard iPhone settings)
3. Delete your Screen Name and Password
4. Go back to your Home screen and launch AIM
5. Re-enter your Screen Name and Password

This should take care of most connectivity issues. We will be posting an update in the near future.

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

Today, we launch the first of many in-depth articles on using AOL Desktop for Mac. I want to start with Mail. We've been getting a lot of feedback and every developer is being briefed on issues being reported using the handy Feedback button on the toolbar. Remember, if you would like to get a response to your feedback (I'll try to get back to as many of you as possible!), I need to get your e-mail address (you can type your e-mail address in the optional e-mail field on the Feedback form).

Topic 1 - First Run Mail Experience (mail performance)
When you first install and launch AOL Desktop for Mac, you'll notice it installs and launches in seconds. After logging in, some users may notice that the application may seem sluggish, this is due to the application downloading mail for the first time and if you have hundreds (or even thousands!) of mail messages in your New/Old or Inbox. You can make the mail experience better by letting AOL Desktop for Mac to finish adding your mailbox to the new mail database. This should only take a few moments, resulting in a better experience day-to-day.

Topic 2 - Mail Display Issues
Some users have experienced mail display issues, where mail listing may be jumbled or your mail header (e.g., To:, From:, Subject:) may not be updated with the current mail message you're viewing. We have our mail team working around the clock to address this issue.

Topic 3 - Default Font for Mail
Like many AOL users, I like picking my favorite font and font size. This is one of our top requests and we'll be posting information on this feature on the Mac@AOL Blog. Hang in there, we'll get back to you.

Topic 4 - How do I Add a BCC: or Signature?
To the Right of the 'To:' field, you will see a pull-down menu that will reveal all kinds of neat things. You can add a BCC: or Signature or even hide the stylebar, if that's what you need.

This is our first post-launch Feedback Friday and we're still reading through ALL the feedback we've gotten from our nifty Feedback button on the AOL Desktop for Mac Toolbar. Please keep the comments coming, we feel it's the best way to hear from our users and help the AOL Mac Team prioritize new features and our projects during the year.

First, for those of you new to the Mac@AOL Blog, we review feedback we received and try to answer the most reported issues right here on the blog. You can review our previous Feedback Friday articles to get an idea (or find an answer) about an issue.

Previous editions of Feedback Friday:

Feedback Friday - 2/15

Feedback Friday - 2/29

Feedback Friday - 3/21

Feedback Friday - 4/18

Question 1 - How Can I Find an Answer to My Problem?
Well, the first place you should look is AOL Support Portal for Mac and the Mac@AOL Blog. You can search keywords or tags by using the handy Search Box, in the upper right corner of the blog page.