AOL V7.0
and
Plain Text
is AOL listening?
 

This web page is http://obri.net/aol/70.html


Visits since July 26, 2002

A web page by Jay O'Brien
SOME LINKS:

Favorable responses from AOL Executive Escalations (new 8/21/02)

 AOL dispensing incorrect support information: web page of examples

Jump down in this page to the table of AOL V7.0 CDs reviewed 

Jump down in this page to the correspondence with AOL

Jump down in this page to the reader comments

Jump to other similar AOL information (V6.0, etc)

PLAIN TEXT AND AOL 7.0
by Jay O'Brien
Hello, AOL, is anybody home?

Plain Text for Mailing Lists
As a manager of majordomo mailing lists, I've had to deal with the newest versions of AOL software installed by subscribers to the mailing lists. AOL Version 5.0 and before allowed the user to send messages using plain text. Version 6.0 allows plain text, but with a difficult series of commands the user must invoke with each message. Otherwise, all V6.0 messages default to HTML. Click here for my discussion of AOL V6.0 and the first release of AOL V7.0. The first release of AOL V7.0 was a big relief, as it defaulted to plain text while allowing the user to select other modes. In late 2001 that changed; AOL disabled the plain text feature in AOL V7.0 and apparently didn't tell anyone. AOL 7.0, as distributed in 2002, will only allow email to be sent using HTML; plain text is no longer an option if email is composed in AOL 7.0.

HTML is unwelcome
HTML is unwelcome on majordomo mailing lists, especially those mailing lists that provide a digest version. It is also discouraged on most usenet newsgroups. HTML belongs on web pages such as this; HTML is fine for private mail (between consenting parties) and HTML is acceptable on many web-based discussion boards. But not on most mailing lists. Here's some reference links about HTML in email: What does AOL actually send?
When AOL 7.0 sends a message in HTML, it sends it in "multipart/alternative", or in other words, it sends the message twice. AOL sends the message once in HTML, with all the imbedded control characters ("tags"), and once in what AOL calls "text/plain". The "text/plain" copy of the message is usually not displayed to the reader, but viewing the "source" of the message will confirm its inclusion in addition to the HTML version. Unfortunately, the AOL mail program does not include appropriate formatting in the "text/plain" copy, so any columns, indents and special treatments are ignored. As a result, the "text/plain" version is often difficult to read. In addition, these dual-part messages are more than twice as large as they would have been had they ONLY been sent in plain text, in the manner of the original "Plain Text AOL 7.0" version.

What did DEMIME do to correct the problem?
Many mailing lists have installed a protective program called demime. Demime and others like it sanitize messages sent to mailing lists, removing "MIME" content such the HTML sent by the latest AOL 7.0. Demime does correct the problem of extra unreadable text from HTML messages being included in the digest version of mailing lists, and demime reduces the size of the messages that would otherwise be sent to all of the mailing list subscribers. When demime receives a multi-part mime email from an AOL sender, it discards the HTML version of the message and forwards only the "text/plain" version to the mailing list. As the AOL mail program does not include appropriate formatting in the "text/plain" copy, mailing list subscribers object to their messages being "changed" by the mailing list; when the mailing list is, in fact, accurately repeating the poorly formatted "text/plain" version of their HTML message that the sender otherwise would never see.

Multiple versions of AOL 7.0
Recently I brought my mother-in-law's computer here and "upgraded" it from AOL V5.0 to AOL V7.0. I expected it would continue to send email using plain text, as it did with AOL V5.0 (I skipped 6.0 because of the plain text issue). I was surprised to learn that the new V7.0 installation defaulted to HTML! There was no way that I could find to compose and send email in plain text. I then obtained an older AOL 7.0 CD and found that it was plain text, as expected. It developed that there are at least two versions of AOL 7.0, plain text and no plain text..

I rounded up several copies of AOL 7.0 CDs and verified that there were several versions, all called AOL 7.0. I am continuing to perform a forensic analysis of any and all AOL 7.0 CDs I can obtain. Many are duplicates. A table is included later in this web page detailing the various "builds" of AOL 7.0 I have found.

AOL mistake?
I decided that first I would approach AOL, as they had included the plain text "feature" in the first release of AOL V7.0. After all, the deletion of the plain text feature could have been an innocent "mistake" by AOL. My attempt to communicate with AOL is below. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

Unsatisfactory Solutions
AOL's presently offered solutions are to "downgrade" to V5.0, or to send using web mail (meaning you must be on-line to compose messages).  These are not satisfactory solutions, in my opinion.

AOL doesn't know?
Several of my friends asked AOL how to send plain text from AOL 7.0. They all received technical instructions that do not work, as plain text has been disabled or removed from the recent "builds" of AOL 7.0. When I asked AOL, however, I was told that there is no way to turn off HTML. What I was told is correct. This is a link to the web page with example incorrect technical instructions from AOL.

AOL uses plain text for email!
Now here is something to ponder. Every response I have received via email from AOL was sent to me using plain text! AOL is using a feature they do not provide to their subscribers with the current release of AOL V7.0. They force their subscribers to use HTML even when it isn't appropriate, but AOL itself uses plain text for email. I've included more of the headers of the messages from AOL in the correspondence copies below to demonstrate this apparent dual standard.

AOL communications barrier
When I was unable to get a coherent answer from AOL's TechMail department, it was suggested to me that I should tell AOL I would produce and sell copies of the "Plain Text AOL 7.0" CD. The idea was that TechMail would ask legal for an opinion, and maybe legal would ask engineering, and some corporate attention would be turned to this problem. That didn't work. TechMail told me repeatedly to have my attorney call AOL's attorney! There seems to be no way to get to someone at AOL who would understand the issue. And I'm not interested in engaging an attorney on this matter.

Feature removal
AOL gained my support and the support of many when it put plain text back into AOL 7.0, after the serious problems with 6.0. AOL has quietly removed that feature. In my opinion, that is bad business. If one 7.0 user can send with plain text, then all 7.0 users should be able to do the same. However, we still don't know if removing plain text was a corporate decision, or just an unintended consequence of some other update that was applied to fix a completely different problem.  We won't know that until we get corporate attention.

Why does this affect me?
I do not use AOL myself. My 87 year old mother-in-law uses AOL, and I am responsible for her computer. Many of the members of mailing lists I manage use AOL, and I have given them advice that AOL 7.0 includes plain text as a feature. AOL has now removed the plain text feature from AOL 7.0, so my advice is now incorrect. I am concerned about the upgrade path for those now using "Plain Text AOL 7.0" as a result of my advice, as it appears that those people, using currently available AOL 7.0 CDs, will not be able to either reinstall AOL 7.0 or install AOL 7.0 on a new computer and continue to be able to send email using plain text. I am further concerned that AOL will continue to exclude plain text in future releases of AOL, thus those to whom I have dispensed positive advice relative to AOL 7.0 will find themselves unable to participate fully in mailing lists or newsgroups in the future. To summarize, AOL led me to give advice which AOL has turned into bad advice. I object.

What next?
Where do we go with this? I'm not sure, but this information needs to be widely disseminated. AOL may not be guilty of "bait and switch", but it certainly is guilty of making a major change to released software without changing the version number or informing anyone of the change. The internet must learn that there are two major kinds of AOL 7.0; one that will send plain text and one that will not. Perhaps the older CDs will actually gain a value?


Jay O'Brien
Rio Linda, CA  USA
August 2, 2002
jayobrien@att.net

POSITIVE FOLLOWUP:

AOL Executive Escalations
I was given the telephone number of the AOL Vice President for Member Services. I called the number and spoke with Ryan Olson. My correspondence with Mr. Olson is below.  What I see from Mr. Olson is very encouraging to me.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2002 12:26:27 -0700
From: Jay O'Brien <jayobrien@att.net>
To: Ryan Olson <ryaninut@aol.com>

Ryan,

Thanks for taking my call today to the office of the AOL Vice President for Member Services. I appreciate your attention and concern for my issue, the apparent removal of the ability to send using plain text from the currently distributed AOL software.

I have attempted to cover the issue completely in a web page that you were good enough to pull up while we spoke on the telephone. I appreciate the fact that you said you would involve the proper engineering people to review and hopefully resolve this issue.

Thank you!

Jay O'Brien
Rio Linda, CA

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 17:16:57 EDT
From: RyaninUT@aol.com
To: jayobrien@att.net
Jay,

I investigated your issue and unfortunately the answer that I found is that AOL 7.0 no longer supports sending email in plain text.  I do apologize for the inconvenience.  I contacted the postmaster team here at AOL and they informed me that AOL 5.0 and below use rich text, AOL 3.0 and below use plain text, but are no longer supported with the AOL service.  All the newer versions use html email and have no way of selecting plain text email.

The workarounds that you can use are to use AOL 5.0 or older or to compose your email in notepad and copy and paste it into AOL's web-mail at aol.com.  You can also keep reinstalling an older aol 7.0 cd that you have found that does work to send plain text email.  I do apologize that these are not to your liking, but they are all that I can offer.

I have placed a formal complaint on your behalf and have requested for the AOL 8.0 that there be an option to change the email to plain text. AOL 8.0 is currently in beta testing and will probably be released sometime this fall.

I will try to address a few of the concerns I read on your website.  AOL 7.0 revision 4114.121 was one of the original 7.0 gold master releases and the 4114.259 is a refresh (or updated) release.  The original builds of AOL 7.0 that you mention on your web-site as being able to send plain text are generally automatically upgraded by the system when you sign off the first time.  Apparently, these updates remove the option of sending plain text email.  I do not have the information nor was I able to find any information as to why that would be changed with the updates.  The TechMail team uses a web-based tool to send out their email so, as they told you, aol web mail does send plain text as that is what they're using.  You can see that this email is not plain text and I am using AOL 7.0 to send it to you.

Again I do apologize that I was unable to find out a more satisfying answer to your problem.  If you would like more of your concerns that are mentioned on your website addressed, let me know and I will address them to the best of my abilities.

Thanks,

Ryan Olson
Executive Escalations
America Online, Inc.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 11:11:34 -0700
From: Jay O'Brien <jayobrien@att.net>
To: Ryan Olson <ryaninut@aol.com>

Ryan,

Thank you for your prompt response. I really appreciate that. Based on your message, I have some questions for you; I would like to make sure that I have properly interpreted your statements and I want to be sure that I correctly understand AOL's positions. I would appreciate your confirmation, correction or response as appropriate to each point below.

1. I want to thank you and commend AOL for taking the clear step to assure that plain text be an option in AOL 8.0. That confirms that the upgrade path for present AOL plain text users will not disenfranchise them from their present ability to send email in plain text.

2. Is it AOL's position that users of AOL 7.0 revision (build) 4114.121 should be denied the future ability to send in plain text once they sign off from AOL and receive the automatic update? I assure you that this does NOT happen, and users of 4114.121 who receive regular updates at disconnect time continue to successfully send using plain text. I know this fact by personal experience. The "X-Mailer" line in the header of emails sent gets changed by the updates from one "sub" to another, but "Content-Type" in the header does not change from text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" (plain text) to multipart/alternative (for HTML).

I respectfully suggest to you that AOL should not assert the position described in point 2 above, as AOL users who require plain text will be disenfranchised without notice. I know several AOL users who manage majordomo mailing lists; if you removed their ability to send using plain text using the AOL mail client, they would not be able to continue as mailing list managers, using AOL in the same manner as they use AOL today.

3. Is it AOL's policy that Plain Text AOL 7.0, for example, build 4114.121a, will not be made available by AOL to subscribers who wish to use (or reinstall) Plain Text AOL 7.0 and send email using plain text?

4. Is it AOL's policy to continue to provide technical support to AOL users, telling them how to send plain text email using AOL 7.0, when the proffered instructions will only work with early releases of AOL 7.0 such as 4114.121?

5. And, as you opened the discussion to all issues mentioned on my web site, what is AOL's position on the independent duplication and distribution of AOL 7.0 build 4114.121a, "Plain Text AOL 7.0", if AOL will not make it available on request?

Ryan, again thank you for reviewing and understanding the issue, even if, as you say (correctly), the workarounds you suggest are not to my liking. I will share your statements with others who are concerned with this issue, so they, also, will get the "real story" from the AOL Executive office.

Jay O'Brien


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 13:24:04 EDT
From: RyaninUT@aol.com
To: jayobrien@att.net

Jay,

Thanks for your reply.  You bring up some good points.  According to my sources, no version of AOL 7.0 should send plain text...however, you have proven that to be a false statement by finding the revision 4114.121 that works to send plain text email.

We send out the latest revision of AOL available on cd when we get direct requests from members for one.  Since this is the procedure we cannot guarantee that the cds we send out are the correct revision to send plain text email.

Our tech support will continue to give solutions to all our members' problems.  I have forwarded this issue on to the people who set up the tech support call flows so that they check the revision number before offering some of the options not available in the other revisions.

As to the independant duplication and distribution of AOL 7.0 revision 4114.121a, we would have to contact AOL Marketing.  That can be done at 1-703-265-1000 and asking for the Marketing Department.  They will have the information available there to answer that question for you.

Again, I appreciate your concerns on this issue and I hope that our combined efforts will make a difference in future releases of the software and make a better experience for all users involved.

Thank you,
    Ryan Olson
    AOL Executive Escalations


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Sun, 18 Aug 2002 20:05:22 -0700
From: Jay O'Brien <jayobrien@att.net>
To: Ryan Olson <ryaninut@aol.com>

Ryan,

Thanks for sticking with me on the Plain Text AOL 7.0 issue. It is really very important to me and to many others like me who manage internet email lists and newsgroups. Many of our subscribers use AOL, and we, like you, want to help "make a better experience for all users involved."

Unfortunately you did not provide closure for two of my concerns. Perhaps I didn't state them clearly enough, so I'll take another run at them.

Ability to continue using plain text
Will present users of the present Plain Text AOL 7.0 suddenly find themselves disenfranchised from their ability to send in plain text as a result of a new, unexpected, automatic upgrade when signing off  from AOL, or will AOL allow those presently using plain text to be able to continue? I suspect that your response to me was, in effect, a "they will be able to continue using plain text" answer to this question, but I would like to be perfectly clear on AOL's policy. I want to be sure that there is not an inherent danger to the plain text feature in allowing the automatic AOL updates to take place.

Making Plain Text AOL 7.0 available
I asked for AOL's position on independent duplication of Plain Text AOL 7.0 **"if AOL will not make it available on request"** (emphasis added). As your reply referred me directly to AOL Marketing, should I thus conclude that AOL will not make it available to AOL users under any circumstances? Before you answer this, please consider my suggestion that follows.

I have recently learned of AOL's ftp site, ftp://ftp.aol.com. That site, which allows anonymous file downloads, has complete older versions of AOL software on it for download over the internet. It is a smoothly working (and very fast!) site. I downloaded a 25MB AOL 6.0 file, as a test, in less than 7 minutes (DSL). Would it be possible for AOL to place a copy of Plain Text 7.0 on ftp.aol.com so that it would be available for download as required?

I would much prefer for AOL to make Plain Text AOL 7.0 available, so that copyright or ownership wouldn't be an issue. It seems to me that the only file necessary is setup70.exe (36MB), as all the other files in the AOL70 directory on an AOL CD would be the same. Your engineering folks should confirm this assumption, of course.

If AOL could place the appropriate file(s) on line, it would show AOL's good faith effort to accommodate those users who require the ability to send email using plain text. AOL would also show it's recognition of the needs of its users, and AOL would gain respect in the mailing list/usenet(newsgroup) venues.

I'm hoping for favorable responses to my concerns.

Regards,

Jay O'Brien

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 15:08:30 EDT
From: RyaninUT@aol.com
To: jayobrien@att.net

In a message dated 8/18/2002 9:06:48 PM Mountain Daylight Time, jayobrien@att.net writes:

Ability to continue using plain text
Will present users of the present Plain Text AOL 7.0 suddenly find themselves disenfranchised from their ability to send in plain text as a result of a new, unexpected, automatic upgrade when signing off  from AOL, or will AOL allow those presently using plain text to be able to continue? I suspect that your response to me was, in effect, a "they will be able to continue using plain text" answer to this question, but I would like to be perfectly clear on AOL's policy. I want to be sure that there is not an inherent danger to the plain text feature in allowing the automatic AOL updates to take place.

I would have to say that there is no plan to remove this feature from the people who can currently use it.  As I said before, all my sources say that it's not possible to do with any 7.0 version, but we've proved that to be an incorrect statement.


Making Plain Text AOL 7.0 available
I asked for AOL's position on independent duplication of Plain Text AOL 7.0 **"if AOL will not make it available on request"** (emphasis added). As your reply referred me directly to AOL Marketing, should I thus conclude that AOL will not make it available to AOL users under any circumstances? Before you answer this, please consider my suggestion that follows.

I have recently learned of AOL's ftp site, ftp://ftp.aol.com. That site, which allows anonymous file downloads, has complete older versions of AOL software on it for download over the internet. It is a smoothly working (and very fast!) site. I downloaded a 25MB AOL 6.0 file, as a test, in less than 7 minutes (DSL). Would it be possible for AOL to place a copy of Plain Text 7.0 on ftp.aol.com so that it would be available for download as required?

I would much prefer for AOL to make Plain Text AOL 7.0 available, so that copyright or ownership wouldn't be an issue. It seems to me that the only file necessary is setup70.exe (36MB), as all the other files in the AOL70 directory on an AOL CD would be the same. Your engineering folks should confirm this assumption, of course.

If AOL could place the appropriate file(s) on line, it would show AOL's good faith effort to accommodate those users who require the ability to send email using plain text. AOL would also show it's recognition of the needs of its users, and AOL would gain respect in the mailing list/usenet(newsgroup) venues.
That is a very good suggestion!  I will forward that suggestion to the people who maintain the site so that they can add the plain-text version of AOL to the FTP space.  While this won't be an immediate solution, hopefully it will be a future solution.

Thanks,
    Ryan Olson
    AOL Executive Escalations


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: AOL V7.0 and Plain Text
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 18:10:47 -0700
From: Jay O'Brien <jayobrien@att.net>
To: Ryan Olson <ryaninut@aol.com>

Ryan,

Thank you very much for your straightforward responses. I will share AOL's positions, as you stated them, with others who have expressed interest in this issue.

Please let me know when Plain Text AOL 7.0 is available on the AOL ftp site for download.

Thank you!

Jay O'Brien

The correspondence thread below tells it all. Note the correspondence below was prior to the exchange with the AOL Executive Escalations office copied above.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 22:52:20 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com
Hello,

I skipped upgrading my mother-in-law's AOL from V5 to V6 as V6 would not continue to send email in plain text. I opted to leave her on V5 as it provided the plain text capability needed for internet mailing lists and usenet newsgroups.

I upgraded her computer to V7.0 and found that it, like V6, was restricted to HTML only. This was unnerving, as I knew that AOL had, in fact, included plain text email as a new feature of V7.0.

I obtained an older V7.0 CD from someone who successfully sends plain text email from V7.0. When I used that CD to upgrade the computer, I was able to send properly using plain text. The date of the SETUP70.EXE file on the older CD is October 15, 2001. It is V7.0 build 4114.121a. CDs that will not allow sending plain text that I have tried are 12/7/01 build 4114.259a and 5/15/02 build 4114.537a.

My conclusion is that at some date after 10/15/01 and before 12/7/01, the plain text feature was inadvertently disabled.

As this important feature is one that was added to the earlier builds of V7.0, I suspect the plain text feature was disabled as an unintended consequence of some other change.

I have corrected the problem on the computer in question by using the older V7.0 CD. That CD has now also been used by others who wish to use AOL V7.0 and send plain text email.

Is there a way to re-enable the ability to send plain text email when using a V7.0 installation from a recent CD? Is AOL aware of this issue? Will this omission be corrected in future V7.0 builds?

Thanks for your attention to this query.

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 06:31:08 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear (J. J. O'Brien)

Hello! My name is Mie  and as a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.

The AOL 6.0 is manufactured before the 7.0 if the 6.0 is html compatible so as the 7.0. There is no way you could turn off the HTML compatibility of the AOL7.0 because it is designed to have an HTML compatibility.

Please write back if you need further assistance, inquiries, suggestions or comments.

Mie  M.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 10:14:58 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com
Dear Mie,

I believe that you do not understand my message. Please refer this correspondence to your supervisor for resolution.

Please ask your supervisor to respond to me.

Thank you,

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 03:39:29 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear (J. J. O'Brien)

Hello! My name is Froilan from America OnLine (AOL). As a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.

I understand from your recent e-mail that you are having difficulties in sending plain text.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and I want to assure you that I will do whatever it takes to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

TO DETERMINE AND RESOLVE THE ISSUE, PLEASE FOLLOW THE STEPS BELOW:

A. CHANGE THE TEXT PREFERENCES TO SEND PLAIN TEXT FOR ONLY ONE E-MAIL
B. USE AOL MAIL ON THE WEB TO SEND PLAIN TEXT E-MAIL
C. SEEK ADDITIONAL HELP

A. CHANGE THE TEXT PREFERENCES TO SEND PLAIN TEXT FOR ONLY ONE E-MAIL

1. On the AOL toolbar, click on WRITE.
2. In the dropdown menus, select ARIAL and 10, ensure the buttons for Bold, Italics, and Underlined are not selected, then click on the TEXT COLOR button.
3. Select Black, then click on OK.
4. Click on the BACKGROUND COLOR button.
5. Select White, then click on OK.
6. Type the Address, Subject, and Message as usual, then click on SEND NOW.
7. Click on OK if you receive a confirmation message.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: The procedure described above by Froilan T. was the correct process to use with the original "Plain Text AOL 7.0" software if the default font had been changed in any way by the user. However, Froilan T.'s procedure does not work with the current distribution of AOL 7.0.
B. USE AOL MAIL ON THE WEB TO SEND PLAIN TEXT E-MAIL

NOTE: You do not have to use AOL to connect to AOL Mail on the Web.  You can use any Internet connection to follow the steps below.

1.  In the Type Keywords or Web Addresses here box, type WWW.AOL.COM then click on GO.
2.  Click on the MAIL tab.
3.  Type your Screen Name and Password, then click on ENTER AOL MAIL.
4.  Click on OK if you receive a Security Alert.
5.  Click on PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SIGN-IN PROCESS.
6.  Click on YES if you receive a Security Alert.
7.  Click on WRITE.
8.  Type the Address, Subject, and Message as usual, then click on SEND NOW.
9.  Click on OK if you receive a confirmation message.
10. Click on EXIT AOL MAIL to close the AOL.COM window.
11. Click on OK.
12. Click on the X to close the AOL Anywhere window.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: The procedure described above by Froilan T. requires the user to change from present practices that work properly in AOL V5 and before and in "Plain text AOL 7.0".  This is inappropriate, in my opinion.
C. SEEK ADDITIONAL HELP
If you need more information to resolve the issue, please seek additional help.

TO CONTACT AOL BY TELEPHONE, PLEASE CALL THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER BELOW:

Please call:

1-888-346-3704

For a TTY equipped number, please call:

1-800-759-3323

An AOL Customer Care Consultant will walk with you with step-by-step assistance in order to find a quick resolution to the issue. The call is free.

I hope that the level of support you have received has exceeded your expectations. Please write back if you need further assistance, inquiries, suggestions or comments.

Froilan T.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 11:09:08 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com

Dear Froilan,

I believe that you, also, do not understand my original message, [see above].

The behavior of the original V7.0 build, i.e., send every message in plain text without special action, is desired. V7.0 has changed from the original releases and the plain text feature provided in the original releases is now missing. You are hereby asked to explain how to make new versions of V7.0 work like the original versions of V7.0.

Please refer this correspondence to your supervisor for resolution.

Please ask your supervisor to respond to me.

Thank you,

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 04:19:12 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hello, My name is Hazel L. from America OnLine (AOL). As a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.

I understand that you woud like to disable the HTML feature of AOL 7.0.

AOL 7.0 email and our system has been upgraded to support some HTML codes to improve online experience. There is no current way to disable this feature.

Your feedback is appreciated and forwarded to the proper department.
 
If you want to send plain text may I suggest to please compose your mail on a Word Processing program then saved it as a text and kindly send it as an e-mail attachment.

It has been my pleasure assisting you.  I hope that the information  provided would be of great help with regard to your concern.

Thank you very much for your continued support.  Have a Wonderful Day  :o)

Please let me know immediately about any further assistance, inquiries or comments you may have. I will always be ready and happy to assist you.

Hazel L.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2002 16:52:30 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com
Dear Hazel L.,

Your message is not responsive to my correspondence.

I do not wish to DISABLE any feature of AOL 7.0. I only wish to ENABLE the Plain Text feature that was provided by AOL with the AOL 7.0 CDs that were sent out during most of 2001. It is a feature that is not present in the AOL 7.0 CDs being distributed at this time.

Is there anyone there who can read my original message and understand it?

Please refer this correspondence to your supervisor for resolution.

Please ask your supervisor to respond to me.

Thank you,

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 05:29:46 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hi! My name is Jei S. I would like to thank you for writing and making us aware of your concern. It is always a great pleasure to assist you regarding any issues you may have.

I would like to apologize for the inconvenience and confusion. I understand that you want to ENABLE the Plain Text feature on AOL 7.0.

May I kindly inform you that I have spoken to my seniors.  May I inform you that there is no Plain Text for the e-mail on AOL 7.0.  The plain text can only be enabled using the AOL 5.0 version.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: Jei S. Is incorrect. There IS Plain Text in AOL 7.0. It was provided for months before it was disabled. Reverting to AOL 5.0 is inappropriate, given that copies of Plain Text AOL 7.0 exist and may be used.
If you really want to have plain text may I suggest to please downgrade to AOL 5.0.

Also you can install AOL 5.0 using the AOL 7.0 CD.

NOTE: To order AOL 7.0 on CD, please call:

1-888-265-8002

To order the AOL 7.0 CD online:

Please go to keyword: UPGRADE then click on GET AOL 7.0 on a CD. Click the link Order your AOL 7.0 CD here.

TO INSTALL AOL 5.0 USING THE AOL 7.0 CD:

NOTE: Before you install AOL close all other programs, including other versions of AOL. Click the Program the Taskbar, then click the X in the upper right corner to close the program.

1. Place the AOL 7.0 CD in the CD-ROM drive.

NOTE: If the installation begins automatically, exit the installation by clicking Exit Setup.

2. On your Windows Desktop, double-click MY COMPUTER.
3. On the menu bar click on VIEW, then click OPTIONS or FOLDER OPTIONS.

NOTE: In Windows 2000/Me, click Tools on the menu bar, then click Folder Options.

4. Click the VIEW tab.
5. Select Show All Files, then click OK.
6. Right-click your CD-ROM drive (usually D:), then click EXPLORE.
7. Double-click the AOL 5.0 Folder.
8. On the right side of the window, double-click SETUP32.EXE.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: Jei S. provides instructions on installing old versions of AOL from the copies of those old versions that are included on the distribution copies of the V 7.0 CD. It is interesting that AOL would continue to distribute out-of-date software. If AOL would agree  that there are two versions of AOL 7.0, the Plain Text Version and the later version, at least AOL could include the Plain Text 7.0 version on the CD, as another "old software" option. But AOL does not seem willing to admit that it did, in fact, distribute thousands of copies of "Plain Text AOL 7.0".
 I have passed your comments to the appropriate staff members for review.

Again, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. If you have any other inquiries, suggestions or comments please feel free to write back to us and we will be more than happy to assist you. Thank you very much for your continued support.

Have a wonderful day!

Jei S.
Customer Care Consultant
TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 15:33:17 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com

Dear Jei S.,

Thank you for speaking to your AOL seniors on this matter and thank you for passing my comments to the appropriate AOL staff members for review. I trust they will reach a conclusion that will re-enable the plain text feature provided by AOL in 2001 to users of AOL 7.0.

I respectfully disagree with your statement, apparently the position of AOL, "...there is no Plain Text for the e-mail on AOL 7.0."  That is not a correct statement. The original distribution of AOL 7.0 did, in fact, include the plain text feature. Apparently the plain text feature has been disabled or removed, without notice, in later AOL 7.0 builds. There are many builds of AOL 7.0 that have been distributed. As I stated in my original message to AOL, the CD that I have that includes the plain text feature has a file date of October 15, 2001 for the AOL 7.0 file. It is AOL 7.0 build 4114.121a.

Many AOL 7.0 users send email using plain text, thus I conclude that there has been wide distribution of the AOL 7.0 versions that include plain text as a feature.

I manage several "majordomo" mailing lists on the internet, which are best used with plain text. It was the provision of the plain text feature in AOL 7.0 that allowed many mailing list managers like me to recommend AOL to our subscribers again, after the many problems we had with plain text on AOL 6.0. The problems were due to the fact that AOL 6.0 does not allow convenient composition of plain text messages. AOL 5.0, as you correctly state, includes the plain text feature.

Based on the information you have provided, it appears that now we must tell our subscribers to either find an old copy of AOL 7.0 or downgrade back to AOL 5.0.  I am not pleased with your statement. The preferred option for me would be for AOL to provide instructions on how to re-enable the plain text feature that was provided by AOL in AOL 7.0 as it was originally distributed.

Please pass this message along to your seniors and to the appropriate staff members for their consideration.

Thank you,

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Sat, 27 Jul 2002 03:52:00 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hi! My name is Gwen H. I would like to thank you for writing and making us aware of your concern. It is always a great pleasure to assist you regarding any issues you may have.

Thanks for writing! We appreciate member feedback because it is the best way for us to know what we are doing right -- and what we could do better.

The specialists at Member Services work to deliver the highest level of customer satisfaction of any company, in any industry. We are dedicated to providing the fastest, friendliest, and most useful support experience available. We are always ready to answer questions and do whatever we can to make the online experience an even more enjoyable and useful part of our members' everyday lives.

Many of the changes made throughout the years have been the result of suggestions and ideas offered to us by our members. So please, send us more of your suggestions. I have passed your comments to the appropriate staff members for review.

Again, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. If you have any other inquiries, suggestions or comments please feel free to write back to us and we will be more than happy to assist you. Thank you very much for your continued support.

Have a wonderful day!

Gwen H.
Customer Care Consultant
TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: I have read the above 215 word email many times, and I have difficulty extracting any useful substance from the verbiage. I am sure that it must be my problem. Perhaps other readers could assist me in understanding the meaning of this email.
P.S.  MEMBER OFFER:  Surf AOL and the Web at lightning speed!

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       - You're instantly on - no need to dial access number.
       - Talk on the phone and be online at the same time.
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Discover the thrills of high speed AOL. For more information, please visit Keyword: HIGH SPEED. 




-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 22:34:40 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com

Dear AOL,

The correspondence thread included with this message details the issue. I have placed the correspondence in date order so that it may be read starting at the top and reading down.

The reader will see that I have exchanged correspondence with AOL TechMail Department employees Mie M., Froilan T., Hazel L., Jei S. and Gwen H. I wished instruction on re-enabling the plain text feature included in the first releases of AOL 7.0. This is because the originally provided plain text feature does not work in the program as it is now distributed on the current CDs. These five employees were not able to provide an answer that is satisfactory to me.

The reader will see that AOL does not appear to recognize that it did, in fact, provide plain text as a feature in the first distribution CDs for AOL Version 7.0. A feature that has now either been disabled or removed. To avoid confusion, I will call the early, plain text, version(s) of AOL 7.0 by the name "Plain Text AOL 7.0".

It does not appear to me that AOL will place Plain Text AOL 7.0 on the V 7.0 distribution CDs in the same manner as AOL places copies of other old versions of AOL software, for example Versions 3, 4, 5, and 6. Therefore, I plan to produce copies of the Plain Text AOL 7.0 CDs for those who wish to use AOL 7.0 and be able to use plain text in the same manner as those users who obtained the first distribution software, now known by me as "Plain Text AOL 7.0." I will make copies of CD number A0202R01, which includes Plain Text AOL 7.0 build 4114.121a, installed by the SETUP70.EXE program dated October 10, 2001. I may also make that version of SETUP70.EXE available on the web.

I plan to sell these copies of AOL Plain Text 7.0 CDs for a nominal price to cover my expenses and time. Is it necessary to obtain the permission of AOL in order to do what I propose in this message? Is this OK with AOL? I plan to start on this right away, to satisfy the demand for Plain Text AOL V7.0.

J. J. O'Brien



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 04:33:40 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hello! My name is Ai and as a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.

I understand that you would like to distribute copies of Plain Text AOL and you would like to have AOL's permission.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Any legal inquires must be directed to our Legal Department at the Corporate Offices, and must be made via formal request from your attorney. If you are an attorney seeking contact information, please call America Online support at 1-800-827-6364 for assistance. From there you will be able to navigate our phone menu and speak directly to a supervisor who can help. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
Comment added later by Jay O'Brien: AOL's "Ai T." wants me to hire an attorney! My attorney should call AOL.
Please write back if you need further assistance, inquiries, suggestions or comments.

Ai T.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 12:57:37 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com

Dear AOL,

I am not an attorney. Please inform your attorney of my plans to distribute copies of Plain Text AOL 7.0, as further explained in the correspondence thread.

Thank you.

Jay O'Brien
See http://obri.net/aol/70.html for more details.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 05:47:44 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To:  (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hi! My name is Jennie. I would like to thank you for writing and making us aware of your concern. It is always a great pleasure to assist you regarding any issues you may have.

I understand you have questions about America Online (AOL).

The issue is difficult to determine and resolve through e-mail.

PLEASE CALL AOL MEMBER SERVICES:

An AOL Customer Care Consultant will find a quick resolution to the issue. The call is free and Consultants are available seven days a week.

Calling early in the day usually reduces the waiting time to speak to a consultant.
- For Windows, please call: 1-888-346-3704
- For Macintosh, please call: 1-888-265-8007
- For TTY equipment, please call: 1-800-759-3323
FIND THE ANSWERS TO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SERVICE ONLINE:
- On AOL, please go to Keyword: HELP
- On the Internet, please visit the Web site below:
http://www.aol.com

Again, thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. If you have any other inquiries, suggestions or comments please feel free to write back to us and we will be more than happy to assist you.

Have a wonderful day!

Jennie P.
Customer Care Consultant
TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 12:41:47 -0700
From: J.J. O'Brien
To: webmaster@aol.com

Dear Jennie P.,

Your message is not responsive to my correspondence.

If you will review the correspondence thread, you will note that Customer Care Consultant Ai T. asked me to have my attorney contact the AOL attorney. As I have not retained an attorney for this matter, I responded, asking that the AOL attorney be advised of my plans. Your message, included in the correspondence thread, does not address my request that the AOL attorney be informed.

Please inform your attorney of my plans to distribute copies of Plain Text AOL 7.0, as further explained in the correspondence thread.

Jay O'Brien


(all previous correspondence was included with each message sent to webmaster@aol.com)



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: V7.0 Plain text feature missing from recent builds
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 04:36:00 EDT
From: webmaster@aol.com
Reply-To: webmaster@aol.com
To: (J. J. O'Brien)

Dear J. J. O'Brien,

Hello! My name is Richard from America OnLine (AOL). As a Customer Care Consultant from the TechMail Department, it is my pleasure to assist you with issues or concerns regarding America Online Services.

Thanks for writing to America Online (AOL).

>From your e-mail, I understand you have questions about contacting the AOL Legal department.

I wish I could help you as much as you would expect me to, but this is not the appropriate department that handles this kind of query.

Any legal inquires must be directed to our Legal Department at the Corporate Offices, and must be made via formal request from your attorney. If you are an attorney seeking contact information, please call America Online support at 1-800-827-6364 for assistance. From there you will be able to navigate our phone menu and speak directly to a supervisor who can help. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Please write back if you need further assistance, inquiries, suggestions or comments.

Richard F.
Customer Care Consultant
The TechMail Department
America Online, Inc.

AOL V7.0 CDs reviewed

SETUP70.EXE
FILE DATE
 SETUP70.EXE
FILE SIZE
 BUILD
NUMBER
 CD
IDENT.
 PLAIN
TEXT?
 COMMENT
Oct. 10, 2001
 37,065,800
 4114.121a
 A1201R28
 Yes
 Silver tin
Oct. 10, 2001
 37,065,800
 4114.121a
 A0202R201
 Yes
 Plastic mailer
Oct. 10, 2001
 37,065,800
 4114.121a
 AR569
 Yes
 Cardboard backing only
Oct. 15, 2001
 37,069,896
 4114.121a
 RA1101R10
 Yes
 Target stores
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 CR0206R72R
 No
 Plastic mailer
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 A0202R14
 No
 Gold tin
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 A0302R334
 No
 Cardboard mailer
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 A0502R14
 No
 Gold tin
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 A0702R801
 No
 Blue tin - mail rec'd 7/26/02
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 AXR701c
 No
 Rec'd in mail 7/27/02
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 PA702R4
 No
 Mailed to NC address
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 RA302R7
 No
 "Platinum" mailer
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 AM702R1
 No
 Jungle birds on holder
Dec. 7, 2001
 37,320,352
 4114.259a
 RA602R7
 No
 Three-fold holder
Dec. 7, 2001
 35,821,216
 4114.67a
 A9-BW3
 No
 Canadian English Version
Dec. 7, 2001
 36,206,240
 4114.35069a
 A9-BW3
 No
 Canadian French Version
May 15, 2002
 37,611,168
 4114.537a
 AM802R37
 No
 USPS sticker on cover

All of the CDs reviewed also include installation software for old AOL versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0B, 5.0NT, and 6.0 except for the Target Stores CD which does not include versions 3.0 or 4.0. CD A9-BW3 has two different AOL 7.0 files.


Some comments received from viewers of this web page:
 (please note these express the opinions of the viewers, not necessarily the opinions of the owner of this web page)
Jay, I really enjoyed the correspondence that you referenced.  It's a great example of a polite, competent professional dealing with a bunch of boilerplate-heads.  I was fully expecting one of them to say that in response to your request, your complaint had been expedited right to upper management, Mr. Bob Pittman, and that you should be hearing from him soon, but in the meantime the lower-level folks would just keep things status quo.  (Bob Pittman, of course, recently received his walking papers from AOL-TW, so don't hold your breath.)

I'm not an AOL user myself, but am definitely an old-time text advocate, having built most of my tools around text editors.  I wish you the best of luck in your AOL dealings.  Keep up the good fight.  You really set a good example. 
I especially like Hazel's instructions: If you want to send plain text may I suggest to please compose your mail on a Word Processing program then saved it as a text and kindly send it as an e-mail attachment.

(What happens if I send it unkindly? :-))  Which alternate universe do these people live in?  I want to make sure that I don't go there by accident...
That's better than some of the humor pages I frequently visit.  LOL
I was most impressed with this statement.... "AOL 7.0 email and our system has been upgraded to support some HTML codes to improve online experience."  

I'm sure that, if I were to use AOL, my online experience would be vastly improved by the amount of server rejection notices I'd receive as a result of my pretty email attempts to subscribe to various lists.  Well, I don't care how many times I have to write to those servers and beg to subscribe, if my email is pretty enough, they'll eventually let me in because of my... ISP.
Notice that each time Jay received a message it was from a DIFFERENT tech at AOL?  I honestly think those names are made up.  It's obvious that the responses are somewhat canned, in that they always follow a cookie cutter template, first, thanking you for writing, then stating how pleased they are to assist, etc, etc,.
As for AOL Support messages coming to you in plain text, well, I'll offer this...  I received a communication from a Postmaster/Mail Analyst at AOL, I noticed the following header... X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000. Great googely goo!!!!  That came from her aol.net address.  When she did write to me once from her aol.com address (notice the difference) I find...X-Mailer: AOL 7.0 for Windows US sub 10509 :This message came through in plain text. Her most recent message came to me as X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 and was formatted HTML.

They can't even make up their own minds how to send mail or what to send it with.  Some use Pine, some use Outlook Express, some use AOL.  And even when they use Outlook Express, they can't set the preferences to stay put every time.
Jay.... I read your correspondence with AOL..and what a hoot.   It makes me think of the age old joke: How many AOL technicians does it take to understand a problem.Answer: ?? The whole chain of command.... they are all in training!
I suppose they hire any one they can with a little bit of experience... I wonder what their turn over is....If you checked in a month would any of them be there?
Aren't a lot of these people just working from their homes ? It's possible that support techs are working from home, but I rather doubt it.  ...  I suspect that AOL techs are low-tech people, and thus are clustered in a call center.  I'd not be surprised to find that they are actually outsourced to an independent tech department that is relying only on knowledge base material to respond.
<< Notice that each time Jay received a message it was from a DIFFERENT tech at AOL?  I honestly think those names are made up >>
Ya think???????  (Sorry......I couldn't pass that one up.  You wouldn't BELIEVE some of the tech names I've seen.)
It's obvious that the responses are somewhat canned, in that they always follow a cookie cutter template, first, thanking you for writing, then stating how pleased they are to assist, etc, etc,.
They used to have their previous versions of aol somewhere on there that you could download an older version, couldn't you?  Why can't they just put the aol 7.0 version with plain text, available for download on there, and make us happy?  Oh, that would be much too simple, I guess......
<< Strange that in the services AOL  is absent with out leave isn't it?>> LOL :)  No, it's AWOL, Absent With Out Leave :)
Jay's correspondence with AOL is remarkably similar to the correspondence I had with AOL that led directly to our leaving them.  Lots of different people, all acting like robots that can't read.  Repeating my email over and over, trying to get SOMEONE, anyone to actually read it.  I don't remember what the problem was, but it never was resolved.  And one of our 'correspondents' was a Hazel :)
Regarding AOL Tech Service, I read somewhere, possibly in the NYT,  that it was being outsourced to the Philippines.
To put it politely, you're being jerked around.
One thing I noticed as common to almost all of the responses you got from AOL is that the messages appear to have been written by people whose first language is something other than English. I can't put my finger on it precisely, but it SEEMS as though these folks are trying to express themselves in a language which they do not understand fully.
Keep up the good work - this saga kinda reminds me of Don Quixote and his windmills...
Is the plain text AOL CD going to come in a commemorative tin, perhaps with a souvenir booklet of the correspondence with AOL?
Oo, for that even I might buy one!
For anyone who missed it, go see the "The Great AOL CD Invention Contest": http://www.ultimatechaos.com/contest/
My favorite is the second place winner http://www.ultimatechaos.com/contest/aolcd/index2.html.
I wrote the AOL webmaster;  "Please tell me how to obtain a copy of Plain Text AOL 7.0 so that my AOL list members may send plain text email using AOL 7.0."
Dyen C. (from AOL) wrote back on how to make plain text in AOL 6.
Remember - these are the people who bought Netscape years ago,  and yet still build Internet Explorer into every product.
In all my dealings with AOL, I finally came to the conclusion that the help "staff" was actually a robot responder that picks up on phrases in your email and generates a response from boiler plate. I don't recall EVER getting a response that addressed the problem submitted, let alone did anything to help solve it. And my few phone contacts convinced me they staff the tech support with leftover flunkouts from fast food joints.
I manage a majordomo group, and have had the same problems that most others have had with AOL members using the latest software from AOL. How do I go about getting a copy of the AOL CDROM that supports plain text?







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