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AOL Gives CompuServe a Facelift

CompuServe 2000 adds features, partners with AAA, and offers new $400 rebate on systems.

By Tom Spring, PCWorld   

The faded online champ, now owned by America Online, introduced an update to its software featuring a main menu redesign, a partnership with the American Automobile Association, a $400 "instant" rebate with the purchase of new PCs, and host of new features.

CompuServe 2000 reflects the company's "re-thinking" of CompuServe and its new efforts to "re-position" the Internet firm as a value-priced alternative to AOL, says Audrey Weil, general manager of CompuServe.

So far, efforts have paid off, Weil says. She claims CompuServe is the fastest growing Internet service provider in the "value space," adding 300,000 new members since February to hit a total of 2 million members. CompuServe charges $9.95 for 20 hours of service per month.

You've Got CompuServe 2000

CompuServe redesigned its main menu to offer ten new "channels," and offers one-click links from the opening screen to weather, stock quotes, and news. Its e-mail features are enhanced so you can restore deleted messages, and CompuServe now supports 16-character names (up from ten). Many of these features mirrored those announced with the release of AOL 5.0.

CompuServe also adds an expanded e-commerce option called Shop@CompuServe and enhanced search functions that let you scour both the Web and CompuServe simultaneously (also like AOL 5.0). Other features available with AOL 5.0, such as the "You've Got Pictures" and enhanced content for broadband, will be folded into CompuServe over time, Weil says.

CompuServe and the American Automobile Association also announced a deal to bring co-branded Internet access to 38 million AAA members. AAA members can install a custom version of CompuServe that will help them connect more efficiently with AAA services and local clubs.

The service is scheduled to begin soon as a pilot program in some AAA clubs, followed by a full U.S. rollout in mid-2000.

CompuServe is releasing a similar co-branded version of CompuServe 2000 for Thomas Regional Directory, a publisher of industrial business-to-business information. As part of its agreement with CompuServe, Thomas Regional Directory will make its industrial buying guides accessible to CompuServe subscribers.

In a separate deal, CompuServe has allied with retailer CompUSA to offer a $400 instant rebate on a PC if you sign up for three years of CompuServe 2000 Internet access at $21.95 a month. The rebates will, for the first time, also be available with purchases of Apple computers.