AOL Goes Light with 'Strauss' Client

As the competition heats up between America Online and Microsoft, the frequency of client updates has the potential to leave some users behind. To avoid squeezing out paying customers, AOL is preparing a slimmed-down client code-named "Strauss," which is optimized for PCs with limited RAM.

Customers who were previously unable to upgrade due to outdated hardware will be able to experience features that were unavailable with the full-fledged client.

Although "Tahiti" was rumored to be available in a light version, Strauss is a different product than Tahiti, a newly released interim update to AOL 9 Optimized.

Tahiti does however feature a smart installer that optimizes each installation on a machine basis. Strauss goes a step further by optimizing the AOL client's actual code base. Target machines range have up to 120 MB of RAM with "reasonable" amounts of hard drive space available.

The software will only be available to dial-up users and is not intended for broadband Internet.

To establish a baseline for quality of service, the early betas of Strauss removed numerous components of AOL as well as bundled third-party applications. High demand features include Viewpoint-enabled applications such as SuperBuddy Icons.  As testing progresses, AOL will gradually phase in additional features.

"In terms of a product that has the potential increase the satisfaction of the consumer, I think this is a good idea.  AOL Optimized however, is really best suited for a broadband customer in terms of the value added features," said Patrick Mahoney, an analyst with Yankee Group.

In a week of beehive-like activity at AOL, Tahiti was distributed to members through AOL's marketing channels. AOL also announced Fanfare, a next generation alternative to the classic AOL client software for broadband subscribers.