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Setup and interface: 8
Assuming you've already installed DSL service, setting up SBC Yahoo DSL is easy, albeit slightly draconian. SBC Yahoo doesn't give you a choice of where to install the software or what you want to install; it all goes in Windows' Program Files folder (there is no version for Macs). The installation software was largely bug-free when we tried it--the only quirk we encountered was caused by our using Windows 120dpi mode instead of the normal 96dpi (see Display settings > Advanced). Once installed, Yahoo's custom browser frame was slightly misaligned and some buttons were a bit off-kilter, but this wasn't debilitating.
After you've installed the software (it took about two minutes for the 22MB of data), you then register online by filling out a lengthy questionnaire asking for your personal info and preferences. Once you're registered, you can easily add as many as 10 subaccounts, configure spam filtering and parental controls, and otherwise manipulate your account, all from the SBC Yahoo Web site.
At first glance, SBC Yahoo appears to install a number of programs on your PC, but there are really only two: a customized browser and a launch application that connects you to the Internet and opens the Yahoo browser. The rest of the start menu entries are simply links to various parts of the SBC Yahoo DSL Web site. The Yahoo browser is colorfully designed, and it's tailored to the SBC Yahoo DSL service, with a button bar across the top to allow easy access to major features, such as parental controls, Launchcast Plus, favorites, e-mail, and Yahoo Messenger. The browser also eases the transition to SBC DSL service by importing bookmarks and address books from both IE and Netscape. We found the Yahoo browser quite capable, and it provided some relief from IE's pathetic lack of pop-up blocking, but Netscape and Mozilla users whose browsers already block pop-ups will be less impressed.
You can skip the installation entirely if you're an existing SBC customer or you already have a PPPoE logon application. Existing customers will have to reconfigure their SBC account information, however, because the new service uses differently named mail servers and requires authentication. You can download the customized browser, then use Yahoo's site to adjust your spam settings, as well as to train the antispam software and make changes to your account. (For a screenshot of the browser, click here.)
Features: 8
The customized Yahoo browser's most useful feature is the ability to block pop-up ads, remedying Internet Explorer's most glaring omission. Ads aren't the only thing SBC Yahoo DSL blocks: you also get antivirus protection and a software firewall.
Your roomy 25MB mailbox with 10 extra 10MB subaccounts--MSN Premium offers the same amount--comes with SBC Yahoo's highly effective SpamGuard spam-filtering tool. Although it doesn't offer options other than Off and On, it does a good job of removing the usual garbage (we'd estimate it caught between 75 and 85 percent of junk mail), and it's adaptive--you can teach it to recognize spam that it misses by identifying it in your in-box. Unfortunately, you must do the teaching from Yahoo's site, not from a regular e-mail client such as Outlook Express. Yahoo keeps spam in a bulk-mail folder so that you can check to make sure that nothing important has been trapped; it deletes the messages after 30 days. Alas, there's no way to reduce that time period, so if you get as much spam as we do, you'll have to visit often to delete messages manually to keep them from clogging your mailbox. (For a screenshot of the SpamGuard tool, click here.)
We were impressed with Yahoo's parental controls for Web surfing. These settings are comprehensive, with age-related levels of access so that you can set different levels for each of your kids. They can send you permission slips for access to a barred site, and you can review usage reports to keep tabs on where your kids are surfing. Yahoo SBC keeps the parental controls in effect regardless of which browser you use. (For a screenshot of the parental controls, click here.)
Another SBC Yahoo DSL feature you'll come to enjoy is the ability to drag and drop files from Windows Explorer to Yahoo Messenger or to the Yahoo browser, where you can attach them to messages or store them online. If you send a lot of e-mail with attachments, this sure beats constantly opening up file-browsing dialogs.
Rounding out SBC Yahoo DSL's wealth of features is your choice of two premium Yahoo services at no charge. You can choose among additional online storage space (up to 500MB), a subscription for online game tournaments and leagues, premium business news and information, a trial e-mail marketing account, an extra 50MB of e-mail storage, a free EZ Antivirus program from Computer Associates, unlimited online access to Encyclopedia Britannica, online bill pay with up to five payments per month, or five SBC Yahoo Finance Company Research reports per month. In comparison, MSN Premium charges $10 per month on top of your DSL subscription, but it doesn't make you choose only two premium services, and it includes as part of the package features such as a photo editor and the ability to sync Outlook e-mail with your PDA.
Service and support: 7
Yahoo gets good marks in our hands-on support tests. The FAQs and the help material at the Yahoo DSL Web site are indeed helpful, and we easily solved two software configuration problems with the aid of a live online-chat techie. You'll also have 24/7 phone and e-mail support at your disposal.
Introduction
| Screenshot
| Back to top
Assuming you've already installed DSL service, setting up SBC Yahoo DSL is easy, albeit slightly draconian. SBC Yahoo doesn't give you a choice of where to install the software or what you want to install; it all goes in Windows' Program Files folder (there is no version for Macs). The installation software was largely bug-free when we tried it--the only quirk we encountered was caused by our using Windows 120dpi mode instead of the normal 96dpi (see Display settings > Advanced). Once installed, Yahoo's custom browser frame was slightly misaligned and some buttons were a bit off-kilter, but this wasn't debilitating.
After you've installed the software (it took about two minutes for the 22MB of data), you then register online by filling out a lengthy questionnaire asking for your personal info and preferences. Once you're registered, you can easily add as many as 10 subaccounts, configure spam filtering and parental controls, and otherwise manipulate your account, all from the SBC Yahoo Web site.
At first glance, SBC Yahoo appears to install a number of programs on your PC, but there are really only two: a customized browser and a launch application that connects you to the Internet and opens the Yahoo browser. The rest of the start menu entries are simply links to various parts of the SBC Yahoo DSL Web site. The Yahoo browser is colorfully designed, and it's tailored to the SBC Yahoo DSL service, with a button bar across the top to allow easy access to major features, such as parental controls, Launchcast Plus, favorites, e-mail, and Yahoo Messenger. The browser also eases the transition to SBC DSL service by importing bookmarks and address books from both IE and Netscape. We found the Yahoo browser quite capable, and it provided some relief from IE's pathetic lack of pop-up blocking, but Netscape and Mozilla users whose browsers already block pop-ups will be less impressed.
You can skip the installation entirely if you're an existing SBC customer or you already have a PPPoE logon application. Existing customers will have to reconfigure their SBC account information, however, because the new service uses differently named mail servers and requires authentication. You can download the customized browser, then use Yahoo's site to adjust your spam settings, as well as to train the antispam software and make changes to your account. (For a screenshot of the browser, click here.)
Features: 8
The customized Yahoo browser's most useful feature is the ability to block pop-up ads, remedying Internet Explorer's most glaring omission. Ads aren't the only thing SBC Yahoo DSL blocks: you also get antivirus protection and a software firewall.
Your roomy 25MB mailbox with 10 extra 10MB subaccounts--MSN Premium offers the same amount--comes with SBC Yahoo's highly effective SpamGuard spam-filtering tool. Although it doesn't offer options other than Off and On, it does a good job of removing the usual garbage (we'd estimate it caught between 75 and 85 percent of junk mail), and it's adaptive--you can teach it to recognize spam that it misses by identifying it in your in-box. Unfortunately, you must do the teaching from Yahoo's site, not from a regular e-mail client such as Outlook Express. Yahoo keeps spam in a bulk-mail folder so that you can check to make sure that nothing important has been trapped; it deletes the messages after 30 days. Alas, there's no way to reduce that time period, so if you get as much spam as we do, you'll have to visit often to delete messages manually to keep them from clogging your mailbox. (For a screenshot of the SpamGuard tool, click here.)
We were impressed with Yahoo's parental controls for Web surfing. These settings are comprehensive, with age-related levels of access so that you can set different levels for each of your kids. They can send you permission slips for access to a barred site, and you can review usage reports to keep tabs on where your kids are surfing. Yahoo SBC keeps the parental controls in effect regardless of which browser you use. (For a screenshot of the parental controls, click here.)
Another SBC Yahoo DSL feature you'll come to enjoy is the ability to drag and drop files from Windows Explorer to Yahoo Messenger or to the Yahoo browser, where you can attach them to messages or store them online. If you send a lot of e-mail with attachments, this sure beats constantly opening up file-browsing dialogs.
Rounding out SBC Yahoo DSL's wealth of features is your choice of two premium Yahoo services at no charge. You can choose among additional online storage space (up to 500MB), a subscription for online game tournaments and leagues, premium business news and information, a trial e-mail marketing account, an extra 50MB of e-mail storage, a free EZ Antivirus program from Computer Associates, unlimited online access to Encyclopedia Britannica, online bill pay with up to five payments per month, or five SBC Yahoo Finance Company Research reports per month. In comparison, MSN Premium charges $10 per month on top of your DSL subscription, but it doesn't make you choose only two premium services, and it includes as part of the package features such as a photo editor and the ability to sync Outlook e-mail with your PDA.
Service and support: 7
Yahoo gets good marks in our hands-on support tests. The FAQs and the help material at the Yahoo DSL Web site are indeed helpful, and we easily solved two software configuration problems with the aid of a live online-chat techie. You'll also have 24/7 phone and e-mail support at your disposal.
Introduction
| Screenshot
| Back to top
