

In some cases, ads may be show to the users. Basically, a product is offered Free to Play (Freemium) and the user can decide if he wants to pay the money (Premium) for additional features, services, virtual or physical goods that expand the functionality of the game. This license is commonly used for video games and it allows users to download and play the game for free. There are many different open source licenses but they all must comply with the Open Source Definition - in brief: the software can be freely used, modified and shared. Programs released under this license can be used at no cost for both personal and commercial purposes. Open Source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify or enhance. Freeware products can be used free of charge for both personal and professional (commercial use). This ensures you will not be charged for the AOL Desktop Gold subscription anymore and your AOL email account will remain intact.Freeware programs can be downloaded used free of charge and without any time limitations. If you'd prefer not to subscribe to AOL Desktop Gold anymore and would like to use the service exclusively via the AOL.com website at no cost, please contact AOL Support directly and inform them of your decision. If they claim they still are using the standalone AOL program, then most likely they have been doing so through AOL Desktop Gold and just have not realized the update has taken place, since Gold and Desktop look and work similarly to one another. If your friends still are using their AOL email addresses, then chances are they are accessing their accounts through the web at AOL.com and not through a standalone program as before. The following article on the AOL Help website discusses the free options found through AOL.com: This includes web-based access to your AOL email account, your address book and any web-related features available through AOL.com (like AOL Search and AOL Video). It should be noted all free services available through AOL Desktop Gold (outside of Instant Messenger, which no longer exists) also can be accessed for free via AOL.com.
Please see the following article on the AOL Help website for more information on this: Because this was a system-wide change to the service, there's a good chance your friends on AOL also received notification of this update - only they may not have seen the message for one reason or another (ignored it, deleted it before reading it, sent it to SPAM, etc.).
