But many users, like Upadhyay, stick with the browser provided by AOL because it has advantages like compressed graphics.

Despite the benefits AOL offers its customers, Upadhyay says he did not like the charging plan AOL had over the summer.

"When I was a member of their plan, they charged a small fee for e-mailing anyone outside its own network," he says.

Additionally, Uphadyay says he occasionally had trouble logging on over the summer because the lines were crowded.

"AOL has the most local sites of any commerical network. Even during the summer during peak times, I would have to try two numbers, maybe three, before I'd find one [that was open]," he says.

Despite these glitches, Upadhyay says he would choose AOL again because he was satisfied overall with AOL.

"I thought the service was pretty good," he says. "I would have to go back just because it's the most convenient service."

One student who used AOL over the summer says that although he didn't have any problems with the server, he would not choose AOL as his personal on-line company.

"The only [thing] I used it for was [having] all my Harvard mail forwarded there," said Ian K. Tzeng '98. "I didn't use any of their other services at all."

Tzeng says the convenience and good deal he got from using AOL made it worth his time to use it this summer, but he would not choose AOL as a permanent service.

"I was using it for two months, so that was a really good package," Tzeng says. "I mean if I was going to do it long term or something, I might go for another one."

Tzeng says, however, that he does not foresee having to pay for Internet services in the future. He says he believes he will be given e-mail where he works and won't need to have Internet access at his home.

"I don't anticipate ever using a commercial one ever again," he says.

AOL Parallel to FAS?

Some of the delays experienced by FAS can be compared to AOL's difficulties, Steen says.