I wanna make my own AOL software

[togerland]

What program language would be the best for this? I would need to important a browser library to handle all the html..... Maybe somehow import something from the gecko engine that firefox uses? I also would like to use thunderbird as an email client.... somehow import that in there... Any suggestions on how to do this? I remember using vb6 it would be easy using internet explorer ocx. For that chat section I would prob host an IRC server and have my client connect to that...

[gian]

As much fun as we are having at togerland's expense (really, your statement is TOO vague) I think it's worth a moment to attempt to help this person.

I am going to assume that you mean you want to create a browser that includes additional software. The additional features could be to play music/video, organize your posts/mail.

Your first question is what is this software platform going to run within; Windows, Mac, Unix (yes yes, Mac is Unix... let's not go down THAT rabbit hole) Depending on the platform your choice of development software could be limited.

Be more specific about what you want to acomplish and maybe you will get fewer comments making fun of the question. (after all, AOL peaked over a decade ago)

why not linux?

I had to go down that rabbit hole :p

[Dot Matrix]

Make sure to include Java. Lots and lots of Java. You can never have too much junk that runs like a bicycle in thick mud. :yes:

[+virtorio MVC]

Make sure to include Java. Lots and lots of Java. You can never have too much junk that runs like a bicycle in thick mud. :yes:

I'd go with C++. That way he could make a separate COM object (1 per DLL) for each class (or even function), give each DLL a descriptive name like msvcrtlxy32.dll and sheli32.dll, register some context menu handlers that are slow to load and cause explorer to crash, and use an installer to have the hundreds of DLLs installed into the users System folder.

[TAZMINATOR]

Way to be supportive guys. *golf clap* :/

@OP:

There are a few ways of going about a project like this. First off, to reiterate what James Rose said, you need to tighten up your requirements somewhat, who your target audience is (are Macs a target, is Linux and/or Windows)?

For a most basic browser, .NET ships with a WebBrowser control which uses the Internet Explorer renderer. If you insist on Gecko over Trident for your web browser, but want to stick with .NET/Visual Studio for coding, there also exists the GeckoFX control which you can use instead of the WebBrowser control, although personally I've never used it so I can vouch for how good it is.

If you're looking for something more professional, you might consider looking into some way of merging the Firefox and Thunderbird code into a single project (the source code is available for both). They share a lot of the same underlying code, so you'd save yourself a lot of time doing that. If you maintain the code checkouts, you'd also be able to directly update your own code whenever Firefox/Thunderbird updates too. Do bear in mind that this is no small undertaking though, and you'd need a LOT of time to do it (like a year + time to learn the code).

Alternatively, developing a email notifier and a decent IRC client extension that works in Firefox/Chrome/IE/Opera would be the easiest way of going about this, and it'd be the best way of getting people using your stuff.

Majesticmerc,

He/she should known better ... since it is easy to write an AOL-like software. He/she should have looked around in the development program such as VS/.NET or whatever he/she writes with.

Right now, AOL has the AOL software for Windows 7 to download to play online... but most companies (in today's world) use web-based social networks on the internet including small software for chatting such as messenger for desktops, tablets, smartphones. I have seen people who still keep their AOL email address as of now no matter they use AOL client or not.. they check their email address on the web or mobile.

I used to be a programmer back in old days... I have seen the internet control ocx and other things in there... it's easy to build a software like AOL did theirs.

[James Rose]

I'd go with C++. That way he could make a separate COM object (1 per DLL) for each class (or even function), give each DLL a descriptive name like msvcrtlxy32.dll and sheli32.dll, register some context menu handlers that are slow to load and cause explorer to crash, and use an installer to have the hundreds of DLLs installed into the users System folder.

You laugh, but I worked for a company a few years ago that bought a piece of software ($2 million) that used over 130 dlls/exes. It was a good data model but horrid coding practices. So please, PLEASE do not give out such bad ideas... someone will take you seriously and I'll end up coming in after the fact to deal with it (arg!) ;)

[remixedcat]

I have to admit I'm mostly just wondering who would use this kind of software in this day and age.

Teeny boppers will flock to it if u put justin bieber on it!!!!

[ShMaunder]

Do it all in HTML and Javascript. People may use it then.

Actually, probably not a good idea. We would get a Yo Dawg situation involving, Yo Dawg, we put a web browser in your web browser so you can surf the web whilst surfing the web.

Hmmmm... like this http://www.michaelv.org/

Edit here we go, I've done it for you:

[togerland]

Way to be supportive guys. *golf clap* :/

@OP:

There are a few ways of going about a project like this. First off, to reiterate what James Rose said, you need to tighten up your requirements somewhat, who your target audience is (are Macs a target, is Linux and/or Windows)?

For a most basic browser, .NET ships with a WebBrowser control which uses the Internet Explorer renderer. If you insist on Gecko over Trident for your web browser, but want to stick with .NET/Visual Studio for coding, there also exists the GeckoFX control which you can use instead of the WebBrowser control, although personally I've never used it so I can vouch for how good it is.

If you're looking for something more professional, you might consider looking into some way of merging the Firefox and Thunderbird code into a single project (the source code is available for both). They share a lot of the same underlying code, so you'd save yourself a lot of time doing that. If you maintain the code checkouts, you'd also be able to directly update your own code whenever Firefox/Thunderbird updates too. Do bear in mind that this is no small undertaking though, and you'd need a LOT of time to do it (like a year + time to learn the code).

Alternatively, developing a email notifier and a decent IRC client extension that works in Firefox/Chrome/IE/Opera would be the easiest way of going about this, and it'd be the best way of getting people using your stuff.

Thank you for your serious response!!!!!!!! I want to use the firefox gecko engine because I want the program to work with windows XP... Using the internet explorer control that comes with .net will mean windows XP users are only limited to internet explorer 8 which is already dated. I look into that geckoFX control but it looks like it has not been updated in awhile

[togerland]

If your still there OP, I might be able to provide some help.

There was a video tutorial tailored to people new to programming to create an RSS reader made several years ago. It?s quite old now, but I can?t imagine the fundamentals have changed all too much. Here?s a link to the videos. And here?s the link to the project files.

One of the keys to programming is never to reinvent the wheel. You've mentioned several preexisting application in your description, and it's good that you?re not planning to write an engine from scratch, but keep in mind the APIs and licenses you?ll be working with. I don?t know your skill level, but I?m assuming you don?t have very much experience. API?s can be challenging to work with, especially if they aren?t well documented. That?s not a knock against Mozilla, I just haven?t worked with their code, so I don?t know how easy their API is to work with.

Thanks this will help because I want it to have news on the front page when they sign in and this will help me do that

[Xerino]

I think I can speak for the rest of the community when I ask one question.... WHY!?

[togerland]

I think I can speak for the rest of the community when I ask one question.... WHY!?

It will teach me some progamming..... Plus I think there is market with this type of program... Most people think of aol think of dial up or it costing money ( even though its free now ) but all the ads and stuff ruin the program and make it bloaty

[+Matthew S. Subscriber²]

I think you're actually meaning AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)...

[rfirth]

It will teach me some progamming..... Plus I think there is market with this type of program... Most people think of aol think of dial up or it costing money ( even though its free now ) but all the ads and stuff ruin the program and make it bloaty

I think you're actually meaning AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)...

If that's the case, try using an XMPP library to write an instant messenger program. I believe AIM has limited XMPP support. So does Facebook chat and many other services.

[DrJohnSmitherson]

I think it could work. Everything would be fresh. Instead of Buddy List. It's facebook chat. I think it could work and even if it failed it would be a pretty awesome programming accomplishment I think. He could build it onto of firefox or chrome

[tiagosilva29]

I'm not going to bother reading this thread, but is the opening poster could probably take a spin on the Seamonkey Project.

[Eric Veteran]

[Thread cleaned]

...again. Stop trolling. If you do not want to offer programming assistance, don't hit the post button.

@OP: What you're talking about is a rich internet application.