AOL OpenRide was an Internet application suite made by AOL from 2006, combining

e-mail Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

, instant-messaging, a

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

and a media player in one window. The suite was available for free download, but an AOL or AIM screenname was required to access some features.

Layout

The main program interface was divided into four mini-windows, called panes: *The People pane enabled users to sign into

AOL Instant Messenger AOL Instant Messenger (AIM, sometimes stylized as aim) was an instant messaging and presence information computer program created by AOL. It used the proprietary OSCAR protocol, OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow us ...

to display the user's buddy list and conversations. *The E-mail pane was a standard email client. It was not restricted to just AOL email, but allowed users to add email accounts from other providers. *The web browser pane ran

AOL Explorer AOL Explorer, previously known as AOL Browser, was a graphical web browser developed by AOL. It was released in July 2005 as a free, standalone download, or as an optional software bundled while installing AOL Instant Messenger. AOL Explorer su ...

, which used the

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

rendering engine with extra features such as

tabbed browsing In interface design, a tab is a graphical user interface object that allows multiple documents or Panel (computer software), panels to be contained within a single window (computing), window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching be ...

. *The media pane provided access to AOL's collection of videos, the Radio@AOL service, and featured a media player for files on the user's local hard drive.

Termination

In late May 2007, having been available for less than six months, AOL removed AOL OpenRide from their official download page, but continued to support it on the help page. In late July 2007, it was announced that AOL OpenRide would be replaced by "AOL Helix", subsequently renamed AOL Desktop, which incorporates most of AOL OpenRide's features, but not the Dynasizer, the multi-pane layout, or OpenRide's Media Center. From December 2007, users were no longer able to log into the AOL network with the OpenRide application to use Email/IM, and were instead logged out and referred to the AOL Desktop download page.

References

External links

Review of OpenRide by PC World
Windows web browsers 2006 software Discontinued internet suites AOL {{web-software-stub