I'm gonna dump AOL asap, because I want Broadband, and the AOL variety doesn't work with Macs (AOL has always treated us Mac-users as second class revenue-providers, charging us the same, whether it works or not. They have been promising BB for Macs for over two years now, but there's still no sign of it.

AOL isn't even secure - both I and a friend have had our accounts hacked by people sending out spam e-mails (like Gufuxy 2796054!) - you can tell, when you start getting e-mail returned which you know damn well you didn't send, with content that beggars description!

I think I'll opt for Tiscali - I can get 2 meg BB (16 GB download) for less than I pay for AOL dialup, and Tiscali assure me that they won't charge for something that doesn't work.

OK, I use a Mac (I was given it, and had no choice, but have come to love it), but I don't see why I should be discriminated against because I do. My pal has AOL BB on his PC (500 meg, because AOL misinformed him about the speed his line would handle, otherwise he would never have signed up). I've seen it in operation, and it isn't that much more impressive than dialup on a good day

On top of all this, my AOL e-mail has gone haywire - if I ask to read it, the whole application quits. The same happens when I try to change screen names.

Changing over will be a hassle (some much as you describe! ), but I reckon it will be worth it, just to kick AOL out.- it just isn't value for money!
By the way, I can send you an invite to Gmail (the Google email package) if you want one - it's free and will survive a change of ISP, because it's web-based, like Hotmail. It's comparatively easy to use, too.

Snorri

About Mac, too true and it is not only aol that ignores it's existence. Know how difficult wishing to use Mac is as someone who is involved mostly in graphics I would much prefer Mac but am put off by the lack of support by a number of software producers.

Will wait to hear how you get on as Tiscali is one of the companies that I have had bad reports about, but then I have heard bad reports about most. Perhaps there is a gap for a really trustworthy ISP to join the market, not a supermarket who I think are just re-selling but a dedicated organization who really provide a good service, I would be prepared to pay top rates to get top service.

Hi Thordell. This must be driving you nuts (apart from scaring the hell out of you too ). I use Blueyonder from Telewest and I have had no trouble at all, apart from a couple of server crashes. I highly recommend it. I wouldn't touch A-O-Hell with a 10 foot barge pole.

Do know that a lot of people have had bad experiences with aol but have to say that I have been with them for a long while and have never had real reason to complain. Have had friends who have had problems with your ISP so I guess you speak as you find which is where I have a problem because what ever ISP I look at someone will rubbish them and that makes me think why would I want to leave an ISP I have had little problems with to change to one that I do not know.

Jackie, I see where you're coming from! Odd, most of the reports I've had of Tiscali have been good , but, even on the phone, Tiscali admit that their staff are not trained to give Mac support However, I know it works up here - but then, when I signed up with AOL, they were the most reliable ISP in the area, most of the others would crash out at the first opportunity (probably because most of the phone lines round here date back to WW2 and have never been upgraded (piecemeal only).

I managed to con BT into testing my line FOC, when it was misbehaving over simple phone calls: they assure me that it will take up to 2 meg, and the price of Tiscali makes it attractive!

Unfortunately, ISPs like Blueyonder and NTL don't come across the Pentland Firth, and so rule themselves out.

There are some decent bits of Mac software out there, but they cost a lot more than their PC counterparts! Some of the Mac mags provide working versions on their cover CDs, and some of it is quite impressive! Stick that together with something like the Mac G5 dual-processor (if you can afford it ) and there's not a lot you can't do, and most of it far more efficiently than on any PC!

There is a motto used by some Mac-users ("A PC is a Mac for an idiot"), which seems to scare the **** out of the likes of AOL. 4% of AOL's customers are Mac-users. May be a small percentage, but 4% of the 27 million members that AOL claims to have is still a lot of people: it just chooses to ignore them.

Snorri

There is a motto used by some Mac-users ("A PC is a Mac for an idiot"),
Guess I am right to stick with the PC then

Sorry Jackie,but i burst out laughing reading your post about hearing voices!

I thought i was the only one who did that...