Aim Adds Crazy Amount of Stuff

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 6:11 pm. 3 comments
Posted in AOL, Design.

It took one day for me to be entirely lost in the crazy amount of stuff AIM has added. The major release was the Aim 6.0 client, which some have recommended it, while others find it unimpressive. Well I have already talked about Aim 6.0 before so lets move onto the new..

Aim Pages

Wow, I think my constant nagging over design paid off. Finally I’m happy with the DEFAULT style. Its clean, neat, everything in a box, and stylish. The previous ugly Web 1.0 styles are still there but I’m not clicking on that. Anyways Aim Pages is now intergrated into Aim 6.0 which means everyone now has a Aim Profile. This would be fine if there wasn’t a Report Profile on every page. I really think its sloppy to allow buddy info to be shown by default as there may be alot of people getting TOS’d for unknowingly posting their buddy info on Aim Pages. Even as my Buddy Info is rated X by their standards, I had to quickly take that off before some unsuspecting old lady reads it and dies in the same breath.

AimPages adds new features such as quick edit mode. For users who aren’t tech savy and just want to type in quick things about themselves. The Custom HTML is placed by default if you’d like to add anything extra. Personal Data and criteria can be added to but at this point there isn’t a search option to search for specific criteria like Myspace does. The Page Style is a new catergory which you can quickly change the styles in a flash, and each one is OK by my standards. After your done quick editing you can try out the Advanced Edit Mode which allows you to change text style, settings, add new modules not listed, and choose custom backgrounds from your PC. One Quick Tip though, the styles you set in Advanced Edit Mode will get reset if you save any new information in Quick Edit Mode. So always edit in Advanced Edit Mode so you don’t have to change font styles and backgrounds each and every time you update. Buddy Requests has also been added and now you can add and annoy all your favorite AIM Developers in one easy click. Well for now Aim Developers are the celebs of the place but in the coming months we might have some new ones. For More Screenshots check out the Image Gallery.

Web Aim And Aim Whimsicals

Aim Developers can join in to create their own custom version of AIM loaded straight through their browser. This new aim allows users to IM you directly from your site without ever opening Aim 6.0. It has 3 feature sets; Buddy List, IM, Aim Presence. Through the use of fancy javascript, the buddy list loads up and they are able to IM anyone signed on and also view thier away messages. The IM Set only shows one IM window screen allowing you to specify which screen name your visitors will IM. Aim Presence just gives you a quick glance of your status on Aim. Aim provides css examples so you can change the look and feel.

 Aim Today and Buddy Blog

Aim Today turns itself into a customizable home page. It features buddy info and intergration into Aim Pages. You can also view buddy infos of your friends online without opening any of the aim clients. At the top they added tabs so you can quickly go to your favorite websites.  Buddy Blog is the new Aim Developer Blog powered by WordPress. (YAY!) Hopefully they will keep it updated and be as interactive as Joe is with his readers.

So that sums up all the new features of Aim. Aol is still lagging behind with their slow message board system and outdated look.