
This was the screen you would see as Q-Link loaded.


Once you were connected to the network, the Q-Link client would
then attempt to connect to the Q-Link service.


AOL's screen name limit used to be 5 screen names, limited to 10
characters each. This also was inherited from Q-Link. This is
the screen where you selected which screen name you wanted to
sign on as. It's interesting to note that V1.0 of the Q-Link
software had the option of changing screen names while signed
online, but the feature was later disabled. It took until
V6.0 of AOL for this feature to reappear.


This is the department screen you were presented with when you
first logged onto the service. PC-Link and Apple Link had
similar department names, as well as AOL in the very beginning.
The only department to still exist with its original name today
is People Connection.

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Q-Lnk was accessed via a X.25 packet switched
network. This was the screen you would see as Q-Link
attempted to to connect via Tymnet, Telenet (Sprintnet), or Telepac. 

Q-Link didn't authenticate you with a username and password,
instead every time you logged on your disk would be modified
with a "key". When you signed on, the key on your disk would be
compared against the key stored on the server. If they matched,
your disk would be "validated" (a new key written for your next
logon) and you would be signed onto the network. This prevented
people from copying your disk, or modifying an existing one to
log on with your account


This is Q-Link's equivalent of AOL's "welcome screen". The beta
test of PC-Link (which became AOL) was kept very hush hush, but
one day the welcome screen for it appeared on Q-Link's service
in error. The cat was out of the bag.


This is the screen which would appear as People Connection
loaded. Unlike PC-Link, Apple-Link, and AOL, you were not able
to chat and browse other areas at the same time

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