Scoring a big win for its alternative browser, AOL has inked a deal with Sony to distribute AOL Explorer as the default Web browser on all new VAIO desktop and notebook computers. The browser directs users to a Sony-branded AOL.com homepage, which includes links to technical support and accessories.

AOL Explorer is based on Internet Explorer, but adds advanced features such as tabbed browsing, Web thumbnails and a built-in RSS feed aggregator. A customizable side panel enables users to load third-party add-ons into the browser, such as a calendar or panel that displays incoming mail.

IE’s security has also been improved in AOL Explorer with pop-up blocking and privacy features to clear a user’s footprints on exit. In beta testing since late 2004, the browser officially launched last July and began shipping with the latest version of AIM known as Triton.

Without getting to into detail about what an amazingly stupid move this is, have any of you downloaded Triton and used the stuffed-in AOL Explorer that they don’t tell you they’re installing until it’s already on your system? I won’t bore you with details, but let’s just say that if the browser wars are between IE and Firefox, AOL Explorer represents some poor folks in a nearly-desserted island just off the coast of Fiji.

Bloated, slow, ugly, and mostly useless.

And it runs on IE, which in and of itself is a flaw.

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