This browser, licensed from Intercon, is the simplest WWW browser available, but with this simplicity comes a few limitations.
This browser, licensed from Intercon, is the simplest WWW browser available, but with this simplicity comes a few limitations.
To get started with America Online's WWW browser, all you need is a Macintosh an a modem. Preferably, you should have at least modem capable of 14,000 baud. The next thing you need is their software. This is as easy as calling them up on the phone and requesting it at 1 (800) 827-6364. Alternatively, browse the magazine racks of your local bookstores. America Online software seems to always be bundled with at least one of the current Macintosh-related magazines.
After connecting to America Online (AOL), select "Switch to Browser" from the Windows menu and AOL's WWW browser, a separate application, will launch. The first time you use the browser you may want to choose "Configure" from its Edit menu. This is will be the only configuration you will have to do, and it only allows you to change the URL of your home page, the default colors of hypertext links, and whether or not you want graphics automatically loaded. Now you can click the Home button to go to your home URL, or you can select "Open URL..." from the Services menu. You are now surfing the Web with AOL.
Using this browser is extremely easy, and one the the nicest things it does is cache pages you've visited and reloads them when you select those URLs again. Mosaic does this also and it reduces online time as well as the time you wait for pages to load.
On the downside, it does not support many of the things from the more mature browsers available. For example, it does not support the reading of USENET newsgroups. On the other hand, newsgroups are a part of AOL proper. You can't change the display font; headers are in Helvetica and the body text is in Palatino. Like MacWeb, you can't select and copy any text from the screen, but you can save the screen's text to a ASCII file or HTML file. Last, it does not support telnet URLs and HTML+ forms are not completely implemented.
America Online's WWW browser may be the way to go if you are on a very limited budget and you plan to spend less than about 10 or 15 hours per month using World Wide Web-type services. Otherwise, it may behoove you to subscribe to some sort of Internet provider services and get a direct Internet connection instead.
Eric last edited this page on September 26, 1995. Please feel free to send comments.