Mac Happens copyright 1999-2000 by Evan Kleiman. � Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Happens

Preview: AOL@school

April 11, 2000 - Evan Kleiman

There is only one internet consumer that AOL doesn't have a monopoly on - America's schools.

Well, not anymore. AOL will be soon releasing a new version of their software specifically for schools called AOL@school. As one of AOL's "valued" beta testers, I was able to get ahold of a prerelease version of this software.

After downloading the 2-point-something megabyte file, I started the program, and boy was I shocked. AOL@school was pretty much nothing but a slimmed down version of AOL targeted at schools.

This program's interface looks quite similar to AOL 4.0 and 5.0, however in a much more "kid safe" way. There is no way to send or receive instant messages, no way to go into anything but AOL@school's predetermined keywords, no profiles, no internet, just learning.

AOL@school is pretty much just a filtered internet portal. In fact, you can't even dial into the Net with it! You need an existing TCP/IP service to get on. Once you are on, you can visit a variety of AOL@school's learning based web pages and keywords (and nothing else).

Also, you can send limited emails. Sending regular plain text emails is allowed; however, embedded pictures are blocked by this program. Also, the filing cabinet feature is nonexistent in this version.

Usually, I don't like to give bad reviews. However, this program isn't really worth it. A price hasn't been determined yet, but it seems like schools would be much better off with a plain TCP/IP connection and some subscriptions to learning based Internet services.

However, in the end, I believe that AOL@school could have some potential if it is improved before its release to the public. Maybe some better services for kids (like homework help and access to more computerized books than are already available).