Notice that I compared the core Apache with the core AOLserver (since that was the question).
The core Apache is just a webserver for static pages. That's all it does.
The core AOLserver is a webserver for static pages but, more interestingly, it is also a full web development platform that talks to several databases. Calling "ns_sendmail to from subject body" I can send e-mail right from AOLserver. You can't do that with the core Apache. You'd have to write a CGI script to do have that functionality.
Also, AOLserver is fully multithreaded, and has been so for years. That has significant advantages for web/db sites.
