Both AOL and MSN have improved their services with their new 8.0 releases.

If you use AOL already, hang in there, rejoice at the company's decision to end pop-up ads, and wait for a bunch of additional improvements that the company says will be rolled out in coming months. Meanwhile, check out Microsoft's free MSN.com web site, which will give you a pretty good idea of what sorts of things you'll see if you decide to switch to MSN as your Internet portal. Or, for that matter, pick up one of the 100 bazillion "free trial offer" CD-ROM discs that Microsoft will be handing out in the coming months.

If you use MSN already, rejoice at MSN's me-too decision to stop pop-up ads, and check out the impressive new parental controls (also borrowed from AOL) and spam filters.

If you don't currently use either AOL or MSN, well, how did you get to this page? If you came in through your own office network or Internet service provider, you don't need either AOL or MSN, unless you're looking for a way to connect your home PC to the Net. If you're already familiar with tools like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Outlook and other PC applications, switching to AOL or MSN is a step backward.

However, if you have pre-teens or teen-agers at home, AOL may be the better bet. The new AOL 8 is strongest in its communications features, like instant messaging and chat rooms, which are wildly popular with kids. Their friends probably use AOL, and that's important to them.

If you're concerned about what your kids do when they go online, however, MSN 8 gets the edge because of its superior parental controls.

If you're sick of getting porno mail and other unwanted e-mails, MSN 8 has the better spam filters. AOL's spam controls are clumsier and less effective, although AOL 8 is much, much better than previous AOL versions.

If you depend on e-mail, MSN is the better choice. On the other hand, AOL users may not care to give up the AOL e-mail addresses they've had for a while. MSN's e-mail services blow AOL away, however. You have to decide if the frustration of using AOL's inferior e-mail system outweighs the hassle of changing e-mail addresses.

MSN gets the nod overall for people who are new to online services or who have "outgrown" AOL's consumer-friendly but training-wheels approach to the Internet. AOL, meanwhile, has made enough improvements to warrant staying with the service, especially in the area of reliability and in its chat and messaging services.

And, of course, they'll both be back next year with AOL 9 and MSN 9.

Meanwhile, the No. 3 online service provider in the United States, Earthlink, has been doing a lot of interesting things lately. We'll check them out soon.

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FLAP OVER BUTTERFLIES

Walking through Manhattan yesterday I nearly trod on several giant butterflies lying dead on the sidewalk. The butterflies, as you probably know by now if you've turned on your TV or visited some of the more popular web sites, were enlisted as the marketing logo for Microsoft's MSN 8. Microsoft held its big MSN launch party (they shoulda called it the "8 Ball") here yesterday, and it playfully slapped plastic butterfly stickers on windows around town, including some that were strategically placed not far from AOL's current New York headquarters.

The real-world butterfly spam attack was launched on the same day that Microsoft announced it was pulling pop-up ads from the MSN service, a direct response to AOL's decision last week to stop most pop-up ads on the AOL service. Visitors to this web site are familiar with pop-up ads. Is there anyone out there who enjoys pop-ups and their sneakier counterparts, the pop-unders?

CITY TO MSN BUTTERFLIES: DROP DEAD

Anyway, back to the butterflies. It turns out that New York City has laws prohibiting people from slapping advertisements on flat surfaces in public places. I've seen "Post No Bills" signs slapped up all over town, but I didn't realize until now that they referred to Bill Gates. The City's Transportation Department, citing "illegal, irresponsible and dangerous defacing of public property," ordered Microsoft to remove the stickers. (Hey Bill, no 'flies with that order, OK?) If Microsoft does not comply, it could face a $50 fine.

No doubt the threat of a $50 fine scared Microsoft into compliance. After all the recent antitrust headaches, the last thing Microsoft wants to do is develop a reputation as a scofflaw.