|
Compatibility | Detection |
Parental Controls | HTML Email | AOL Client Software
HTML syntax is constantly evolving. In addition to changing industry standards, there are also common extensions of the standards that are inconsistently supported by various browsers. Test your site design decisions against at least the last two major versions of the AOL Windows browser as well as AOL for Mac OS X. Below, for your reference, are the versions of the various AOL browsers and the features and functionality they support.
Beginning with Windows AOL 3.0 (32-bit), the AOL client does not have a browser embedded, but instead uses the Internet Explorer browser the user already has installed within their system. Macintosh and Win16 versions of AOL do have an embedded version of Internet Explorer which is independent of the user's external browsers.
Therefore, for modern AOL Windows clients, browser compatibility is mostly independent of any specific AOL version. The AOL browser will support most of the capabilities that a user's external version of Internet Explorer does. There are various incompatibilities which may arise in the way the specific AOL clients interact with the Browser which can result in unexpected behaviors of the browser itself.
AOL for Mac OS X is based on the Netscape Gecko embeddable browser. If after testing your site you discover issues, please refer to the Netscape Gecko Compatibility Handbook.
Different versions of each browser may implement the W3C HTML Standard differently. For full details on what capabilities each specific browsers support (and how they implement them), please see the following sites:
| Browser Name: |
Microsoft Internet Explorer |
Netscape |
| Browser Version: |
4.01 |
3.0 |
4.01 |
5.0 |
5.01 |
5.5 |
6.0 |
4.x |
Gecko |
| AOL Versions Possible: |
4,5 |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
N/A |
N/A |
| CompuServe
Versions Possible: |
4,5 |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
3+ |
N/A |
7 |
| OS
Platform |
Mac |
Win32 |
Win32 |
Win32 |
Win32 |
Win32 |
Win32 |
All |
All |
| % of usage 1 |
1.3 |
0.2 |
1.2 |
25.0 |
2.7 |
49.4 |
20.2 |
N/A |
N/A |
| HTML |
| HTML specification |
4 |
3.2 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4.01 |
| Supported by all |
Tables, Frames, Client-side ImageMaps, Borderless Frames, Background
color in table cell |
| Background image in table cell |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Floating frames |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Cascading style sheets |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| VRML |
Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y 2 |
Y 2 |
N |
N |
| DHTML |
Supported in MSIE 4.0+.
Exact capabilities documented at msdn.microsoft.com |
Y |
Y |
| XML |
Supported in MSIE 4.0+.
Exact capabilities documented at msdn.microsoft.com |
Y |
Y |
| Graphics |
| Supported by all |
GIF, Animated GIF, Transparent GIF, JPG, Progressive JPG, BMP, ART, J-G 3.0 |
| J-G 4.0 format (Slideshow) |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| MultiMedia |
| AOL Media Player |
This is supported in AOL 6+. Please see our Stream.Info site for more details. |
| Other Formats |
Please see our Stream.Info site for details on formats supported. |
| Client side scripting |
| JavaScript |
1.2 |
1.1 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
1.5 |
| OLEScript |
N |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
| Pluggable script engines |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
| VBScript |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
| Meta Tags |
These meta tags will only affect local browser caching; only HTTP Headers from the server itself will affect AOL's cache system, so http-equiv tags are not recommended. Details... |
| Supported by all |
keyword, description, robots, http-equiv (refresh, expires, set-cookie, etc)
See W3C for details on META tags. |
| Java |
| applets |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Plugins |
| Supported by all |
RealPlayer, Quicktime, Shockwave/Flash, VDOLive, etc. |
| ActiveX controls |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
| ActiveX documents |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
| Netscape Plugin API |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
N |
N |
Y |
Y |
| Netscape 6 (XPCOM) |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Y |
| Cookies |
| session |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| persistent |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| persistent by screen name |
Y |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
N |
| Security |
| Supported by all |
SSL v2.0, 128-bit SSL, Hiding username/ password in URL line
(POST Data), HTTP basic security, persistent authentication database, PCT
1.0 |
| 128-bit Encryption: |
Must download 128-bit upgrade for
MSIE from Microsoft |
Y |
Y |
| SSL v3.0 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| FTP |
| Supported by all |
Inline FTP directory tree, FTP 400/500 responses, FTP connection
caching, simultaneous different windows, "Back" action after download |
| Miscellaneous |
| "Authenticode" signed code (via X.509 and PKCS#7) |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
| Customizable interface - hybrid browser |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
Y |
1 This percent represents browser usage within the AOL/CompuServe client. Figures in the table may not equal 100% due to legacy/beta clients and rounding.
2 Microsoft no longer ships this with its standard distribution. It is downloadable from Microsoft's web site.
|
