Beta testing is using software that is in the final stages of development. It serves two main purposes:

1. To uncover any issues with a product - issues that may not have been apparent outside a development environment because of hardware and software configurations, usage patterns, etc.
2. To solicit feedback about the product being beta tested. We want to know what you like about it, what you don't like about it, what you would change, what you would like to see added to it, what makes sense, what does not make sense, etc.
   

Please keep those two criteria in mind as you use the AOL 9.1 Beta Software.

If you encounter a technical issue while using it (e.g., something does not function as you think it should, you encounter error messages, etc.), please check out the Known Issues to make sure it isn't something we're aware of but have not yet fixed. If what you are seeing is not listed in the Known Issues, please let us know by submitting a Bug Report. Include as much information as possible - including specific error messages you saw, what you clicked, typed, etc., that resulted in the problem - so that we can attempt to recreate (and fix!) the issue you encountered.

If you have general feedback about the AOL 9.1 Beta, we welcome your thoughts!  Feel free to post to the AOL 9.1 Beta Message Boards.  We welcome all comments and constructive criticism that can help us build a better product for you!

NOTE: If you encounter any problems with AOL 9.1 please do not contact member services!  Use the Report A Bug form, or the Message Boards.

What To Test

To beta test AOL 9.1, simply check it out and use it as you see fit. We welcome your feedback about any aspect of AOL 9.1 and ask you to focus on any issues or unclear design or behaviour while paying attention to some of the features and functionality we've introduced in this beta version.

As with any client testing there are some specific items you might want to concentrate on. Think of this as a sort of laundry list of items to ensure are working:

    * Install - Make sure the menus and buttons work as you would expect
    * Install - Did the client install where you wanted?
    * Launch - Did the client launch as expected?
    * Sign on - Did the client sign on as expected?
    * Online - Do menus work as expected?
    * Online - Do IMs work as expected?
    * Online - Does Mail work as expected?
    * Online - Does the WEB behave as expected?
    * Sign off - Did the client disconnect as expected?
    * Offline - Did offline browsing work as expected?