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The horrible truth of IE6


TheFilmGod

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I use windows xp. I got the computer four years ago.

 

I recently tried upgrading IE6 to IE7 and I can't?  ??? - Why?

 

I use windows service pack 1? I would need to first upgrade that... for some reason I can't do that and I'm too lazy to call support.

 

There are hundreds of thousands of internet users who are in my shoes. If this wasn't the case, then IE6 would be nearly extinct by now. Yes, there is the good old Firefox...  ;D

 

But it just shows how much Microsoft enjoys pissing off the web developers off.  :D

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I don't think Microsoft is to blame for this. SP2 was released in 2004... Time to upgrade! It's not like it's very difficult to download it from their website. Heck, if you enable automatic updates it'll do it for you. It's not their fault that people, contrary to their recommendations, don't upgrade their software.

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Makes you think how awful it must be without those updates!

 

When I worked in IT, we discovered that the patches caused more administrative problems than the ones they solved. We had an organization-wide policy to not install updates except when it became necessary - and our computers worked like charms.

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The only thing I find annoying about the updates it that they require me to reboot. The entire updating system is quite stupid IMO. It's like a three step process: 1) Install 2) Configure 3) Configure again

 

I wonder why it has to configure the updates both when shutting down and when booting again. It's also displaying the progress of the configuring, but it doesn't seem to work properly. It just stays at 0% for a long time, then suddenly it jumps all the way to 100% and you have to wait for just as long time again.

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Makes you think how awful it must be without those updates!

 

When I worked in IT, we discovered that the patches caused more administrative problems than the ones they solved. We had an organization-wide policy to not install updates except when it became necessary - and our computers worked like charms.

 

There is the rare case that updates cause problems, but I do work IT, and you can easily use a Windows Update Server for your LAN and select which updates to deploy.  It isn't always best to install updates right as they come out, but after a short period any problems are usually found and resolved.

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It just stays at 0% for a long time, then suddenly it jumps all the way to 100% and you have to wait for just as long time again.

 

I've never seen an install/configure progress bar that works correctly. They all seem to do that. Hell, the XP install pauses at the same 'time left' points every time you install it!

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It just stays at 0% for a long time, then suddenly it jumps all the way to 100% and you have to wait for just as long time again.

 

I've never seen an install/configure progress bar that works correctly. They all seem to do that. Hell, the XP install pauses at the same 'time left' points every time you install it!

 

You only mentioned Microsoft products. I guess that's where the problem starts...

In WinRAR for an example the progress bar works great.

 

Orio.

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Depending on what you're doing, an accurate progress bar can be very hard to make.

 

I agree. Though i do find the sheer number of updates windows does quite staggering.

I don't know if a comment on the sheer number of updates is fair.  My Ubuntu box wants to update itself every time I turn it on; the difference is that the Ubuntu update works on the OS and all installed programs and is noninvasive.

 

Also, it has always irked me that Window's components seem to be so tightly coupled.  For a long time and still to some degree, the slightest change in windows requires an entire system restart.  Better operating systems just restart the component that changed and broadcast the changes to the rest of the system and over any network it's attached to.

 

(edit) There are also some people who can not update past IE6.  My parents, for example, are installers for Lowes.  Lowes has a website that requires IE6 and there is absolutely no way around it.  Believe me I've tried everything.

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(edit) There are also some people who can not update past IE6.  My parents, for example, are installers for Lowes.  Lowes has a website that requires IE6 and there is absolutely no way around it.  Believe me I've tried everything.

Yes, like users of Windows 98 - IE7 isn't supported.

 

Surely the only way they can detect that you are browsing with IE6 is by reading the headers sent by the browser, I can only assume you have tried modifying the headers?

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There is the rare case that updates cause problems, but I do work IT, and you can easily use a Windows Update Server for your LAN and select which updates to deploy.  It isn't always best to install updates right as they come out, but after a short period any problems are usually found and resolved.

 

I agree. This is also a major difference between the home user and corporate upgrades. At my last job, they really handled the updates very smoothly and rolled them out all at the same time over the network. At my current job, auto updates are on on the PCs, but we have much less strict networking needs here.

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Surely the only way they can detect that you are browsing with IE6 is by reading the headers sent by the browser, I can only assume you have tried modifying the headers?

 

This particular site uses Java and certificates to allow the user to log in.  If you don't have IE6 then the site thinks your browser doesn't support 128-bit encryption and poo-poos all over the place.

 

I've tried many things, such as switching the user agent, but not specifically modifying the headers.  The site is a PITA to interact with.  This is it BTW http://www.loweslink.com/login.html

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Well, at least your computer didn't tell you "We have detected you are using a Macintosh.  These updates are not available for your OS."

 

I got that message from the update.microsoft.com website when I was running my weekly XP patches.  And, I'm using XP SP 2.....I dont even own a mac.  (and, no, it wasn't on april 1st)

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Well, at least your computer didn't tell you "We have detected you are using a Macintosh.  These updates are not available for your OS."

 

I got that message from the update.microsoft.com website when I was running my weekly XP patches.  And, I'm using XP SP 2.....I dont even own a mac.  (and, no, it wasn't on april 1st)

 

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

 

Sorry I had to post, but for some reason I found that really funny. - Just shows what crap windows is all about. Microsoft is better off creating a web browser like OS (using php and javascript). ha ha ha.

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