*1- You can modify the look of ur browser ie remove the icons completely and replace redundant links with ur own links on those buttons!
you can also maximise any screen inside aol browser just like in ie i do believe u lose quite a bit from the top of ie as well dont you?
*2- as for the email thing the latest version of aol does have the option to block unwanted mail from addresses etc
also has a built in pop up blocker as well so no need to install any other software
*3- i do have aol and i have my 56k connection up for about 16 hours a day and i very rarely get disconnected unless im maxing out my cpu
anything else to substantiate that aol sucks will be perused if u would like to submit any valid comments.......