State of the Art: For Those in the Fast Lane, MSN Tries to Smooth the Way

State of the Art: For Those in the Fast Lane, MSN Tries to Smooth the Way "The assumption of many providers of high-speed Internet service today is that you are a power user; that is, you don't need any help. You manage your e-mail with a free service like Hotmail or Yahoo, or know how to set up a POP3 account in Outlook.
You already have software to protect you from hackers, viruses and spyware. You have a working knowledge of Photoshop (or at least Photoshop Elements) and you share pictures with family members at Ofoto. Google is your research hub, you download movie trailers at QuickTime.com, and you may even subscribe to a streaming music service like Rhapsody. You're a Net veteran, and all you require of your service provider is an always-on connection to a fat Internet pipeline.
If you don't feel all that savvy, AOL and MSN sympathize with you. They suggest that although you have graduated to broadband, you might still need the full online-service software package you used in your dial-up days. Both companies have introduced software-and-service packages known as "bring your own access" - geared mainly toward Windows users, and offered at a lower monthly fee than their dial-up plans - to complement high-speed Internet access."