Fred
I'm running 8 and 9 together
The best thing is the spam controls(Big improvement on 8)

The email has got lots of things added looks like the IM with lots of bells and whistles
But..If you send to someone outside the AOL system all they get is lots of hyperlinks in the message

(didn't think about that!

)
Some things I like such as the merry-go-round favourite link on the Tool bar the version 8 only could add 3? New links

but on 9 the whole area can be used
12 links 
good for a guy like yourself who wants a quick reference link
If you are using Broadband there is an excellent Cd radio player (but its the BBC radioplayer if you are on dial up) Can cheat though If you have the US Version(which I have) they have the Cd player on dialup

(Have to make a icon in Favourites to bypass the BBC link) which being a UK resident means we must have

So my AOL9 is mixed up I get most of the US news/features but the UK features override a few areas

My advice ? Get it

The Spam controls are better than 8 and I think you should also install SpywareBlaster which will help stop Spam targeting your computer
www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html Setup details for Spywareblaster on AP posting