AOL offers new all-in-one software

NEW YORK — AOL is getting a software makeover, its first since deciding to make more of its services available for free in the chase for online advertising dollars.

With today’s launch of OpenRide — the name reflecting AOL’s shift away from its traditional closed-door approach of charging for services and features — the company is hoping to keep broadband multitaskers glued to its key free offerings through an all-in-one program.

Unlike traditional Web browsers in which users perform one task at a time, OpenRide splits the main window into four panes — for e-mail, instant messaging, video and general Web browsing. It also has a prominent search box up top — tied to AOL’s search engine.

The panes automatically resize depending on what a user is doing at the moment, while giving users a glance of all the main tasks.

For example, when checking video or other media, a pane with a built-in media player takes up most of the space, but users still get smaller panes above and to the side showing new mail, instant messaging chats and small, thumbnail versions of Web pages they have open.

And unlike previous versions of AOL’s all-in-one software, users won’t have to sign in until they need to access a specific service like e-mail.

“You can get right to the content,” said Joel Davidson, AOL’s executive vice president for access products and technology. “You don’t have to go through any wall.”

The software can be downloaded at http://www.aol.com/openride for free.

Davidson said AOL is counting on drawing former AOL subscribers who have gone to rival services from Yahoo Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. because they didn’t want to pay monthly fees of as much as $26. He acknowledged OpenRide might not appeal to “high-end geeky Web users” accustomed to mixing and matching software.