It appears AOL is about to alienate some loyal users. The company recently released the beta version of AOL 8.0. Fortunately, it includes some long-awaited features, such as buddy icons, present in AOL’s AIM and NIM for years. Unfortunately, the company appears to be lacking talented artists. As apparent by a screenshot posted to NeoWin.Net, AOL is stepping away from the darker, bolder colors found in AOL 4.x-7.x’s user interfaces, and is introducing a pastel-looking interface to its millions of users. Yuck!
Update: According to Chris, AOL has included the buddy icon feature in its Internet suite for a long time, possibly since version 6.0. However, various sources, including Neowin.net, mention an improved IM client in AOL.
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