AOL 6.0 update...think I'll wait and read this afternoons article before installation.
langa.com
"Any time you add any new software to your system, you increase the complexity of what your operating system has to deal with. Sometimes, it's worth it: Even if a new program is (ahem) less than perfect, its benefits may outweigh its drawbacks.
Other times, a new program adds so much complexity and/or creates so many problems--- immediate or potential--- that the drawbacks overwhelm any possible benefit.
Like any other application, when you add either AOL6 or MSN Explorer to your system, you'll increase your overall system complexity. But while MSN Explorer's changes are minor, AOL6 makes an almost unbelievable number of unnecessary and even dangerous changes to your system's networking setup--- some of them so bizarre even AOL's own support technicians are at a loss as to explain what's going on. (I know: I called them.). At best, AOL6's changes are likely to make your system less stable; at worst, AOL6 may render your system wide-open to hackers, crackers, and other online miscreants.
Some of AOL6's changes can be remedied *if* you know exactly where to look and what to do; other changes AOL6 makes cannot be undone at all without fatally breaking the AOL6 installation.
I'll tell you everything I found out about both AOL6 and MSN Explorer--- including how I tested them and exactly what changes they both made to my test system. I'll also tell you which of the adverse changes can be undone, and which cannot. But it's a whole article in itself, and is way too much to cram into a newsletter. Instead, I've made these tests the focus of the new "Explorer" column that goes live around midday today (Dec 04, 2000; UT-4) on the WinMag.Com site. The column will appear under the "Explorer" heading on winmag.com ; if you arrive early, you'll see the previous column "Automatic Update Services -- Yea or Nay?" In that case, just try again a little later. If you want to try a direct link, once the column is posted, it should be at winmag.com . (If you arrive early, the link won't work.)"
tc |
