In the past, when I upgraded to new versions of AOL, I regretted it af

In the past, when I upgraded to new versions of AOL, I regretted it afterwards because of various problems that it caused to my computer. Should I consider upgrading to AOL 8.0?
- Raj

This question was answered on November 4, 2002. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

Whenever you decide to upgrade anything in your computer, hardware or software, you are essentially rolling the dice and hoping for the best.

Since virtually every computer that has been in use for any length of time is a unique set of circumstances, releasing a product update that will work in every case is impossible.

When two identical computers leave the factory, they become different the minute the first program is added to it

If you take into consideration all the different manufacturers and all of the models available from each, then add in the different versions of Windows, you get a fairly large group of systems as a starting point.

Now add in all the various user added options such as anti-virus software, video cards, network cards, scanners, printers, mice, utility programs, etc and the combinations become almost infinite.

Now add in every model of every computer ever made and all of the add-on products ever made and you now understand the challenge presented to companies like AOL when they decide to release an upgrade of their software for their 35 million subscribers.

How can they possibly test for this almost infinite combination of possibilities? The answer is they can’t.

What they can do is test under ‘normal’ circumstances in their controlled lab, then release a ‘beta’ or test version to those that are willing to deal with an unfinished product and provide feedback to the company.

This critical ‘beta’ period is generally the make or break of any new software release The larger the beta group, the more feedback the developers can get, which allows them to fix as many problems as possible before releasing it to the masses.

In fairness, the ability to write a software program that is 100% bug free is nearly impossible.

If you are currently experiencing problems of some sort with your computer, don’t make it worse by adding a new version of anything Get your system in proper working order, then install the upgrades, or you may just make things worse (and don’t blame it on AOL).

We have tracked the various AOL releases over the years both through our retail service centers and our weekly radio show (We remember the firestorm when AOL 5.0 was released!)

Without question, Version 8.0 of AOL has seen the fewest reported issues from our sampling groups, so far In fact, in a recent survey of our radio show listeners the results were that over 90% of users that had upgraded were not experiencing any problems.

The number one warning we got from users that had upgraded was the amount of time that it took to download the update Most are telling us that it is taking in excess of two hours on a dial-up connection, so consider starting the download at night before you go to sleep.

You can also order an AOL 8.0 CD from AOL’s web site (>http://free.aol.com/downloadaol</b>) or check your local supermarket or electronics store or just wait for a disk to fall into your lap as you read your favorite magazine!

Since every situation is unique, there is no guarantee that you won't have problems, but so far it seems that the likelihood is much lower than in past versions of AOL.