AOL is trying to court Mac users again, launching the first desktop in five years for those who use Apple machines.
Dulles-based AOL announced the release of the first public beta of the new AOL Desktop for Mac on Friday.
The application is compatible with Mac’s Leopard operating system.
The desktop has a faster load time than earlier incarnations, and also has features like tabbed navigation and integration with AOL’s Instant Messenger program.
The company developed the system by working directly with Mac users, according to spokeswoman Molly McMahon.
“Mac has always been an important audience for us, and the timing was just right for this,” McMahon said.
McMahon did not know how many existing AOL customers use Macs, but said there are more than half a million AOL sessions done on Mac machines per day.
AOL is simultaneously launching a Mac@AOL blog (macblog.aol.com) so the company can get direct feedback from users on how to make the system better, McMahon said.
The announcement comes after other recent Mac-oriented AOL releases, including its AOL Service Assistant and AOL radio for Mac.
“We got really positive feedback for those, so we knew Mac customers were still engaged with AOL,” McMahon said.
AOL will have an uphill battle competing with similar programs such as Mozilla Firefox, whichis automatically installed on Mac machines, said Lowell Kay, an AOL user and president of the Los Angeles-based DR Group, a supplier of Mac post-production equipment.
“The question is, what is their product going to offer that’s better?” Kay said.
Kay said the move is still a good one for the company if it continues to support its Mac user base rather than releasing programs sporadically and not keeping up with the technology.
