Monday, November 17, 2014

Internet Explorer 11 doesn't work on a number of sites making it frustrating to use.

Internet Explorer is my preferred browser because I find it easier to fix if there's a problem on client machines and I like the scripting capabilities. However, as with most things Microsoft, Microsoft seems to have lost the plot. It is not possible to use just Internet Explorer to get things done.

During my support role I've found a couple of sites where Internet Explorer 11 simply doesn't work. For my own use of Blogger I'm not able to upload an image to a blog post. It simply doesn't work and freezes Internet Explorer. Those using Centrelink's site to upload documents for a claim find you can't use that feature and a different browser is required.

There was a time when sites were crafted to work with Internet Explorer since it dominated the market. Now you just don't know what will or wont work. To get around this problem I have the Opera browser installed as a back-up browser.

Since Microsoft in their short-sighted wisdom (commercial self interest) decided to stop supporting Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8, for those using Windows XP I suggest using Google Chrome. Google has committed to support Windows XP for 12 months after the end-of-life. Well done Microsoft. You've simply handed 20-30% of the market to Google and lost considerable credibility that Microsoft even cares about its customer base. That's OK, but that means the customer now cares less about Microsoft and perhaps that isn't such a bad thing. Now the market can evolve to where it will be in the future. Unfortunately that does appear the movement is to Google which is simply replacing one large business with another with our usage data being mined for advertising and other purposes.

So if you're having trouble with your browser, install a second browser in case a site gives you problems. Opera isn't a popular browser, but I do find it to be lightweight and gets around the problems I have. This also means I don't hand my usage data over to Google. Somehow I think Google however is winning this game, with my logs showing Google Chrome to be the leading browser and Internet Explorer in the third or fourth position.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for IT support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.

PS. My apologies. I originally wrote Internet Explorer 10 for this article. I was of course meaning the latest version Internet Explorer 11.

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