Jump to content

Groundspeak Phasing Out Support for Older Browsers


OpinioNate

Recommended Posts

Beginning this week Groundspeak will be slowly phasing out support for older browsers. This will not be an abrupt halt to site bug fixes that affect older browsers; however, the expectation should be that we will focus our efforts in other areas rather than continue to expend resources making ancient browsers work.

 

The Knowledge Book article explains more:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?p...page&id=215

 

Groundspeak will be phasing out support for older web browsers starting March 25, 2010.

 

This phase out will affect all Groundspeak operated websites including www.geocaching.com, www.Waymarking.com, and www.Wherigo.com. This phase out includes Internet Explorer version 6.0 as well as older browsers that are currently not supported by the browser manufacturers themselves.

 

You can check what browser version you're currently running at http://www.WhatBrowser.org.

 

Older browsers aren't fully compatible with many modern web applications. ​We encourage you to upgrade to any of the following supported web browsers:

 

Mozilla Firefox ​3.0+

Microsoft Internet Explorer ​7.0+

Google Chrome 4.0+

Safari 3.0+

 

What happens if I don't upgrade before March 25, 2010?

New features in Geocaching, Waymarking and Wherigo may not be available in your browser, and some features may even stop working. Groundspeak’s websites will be available "as is" for older browsers, and Groundspeak won't be able to respond to any feature requests or fix many bugs on those browsers.

 

It's important to upgrade before March 25, 2010 to help avoid any negative impact or feature limitations.

 

I understand that in many cases users are visiting the site from work, and do not have admin rights to their machines. In these cases I recommend putting either Firefox or Chrome on a USB dongle for a portable solution.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment

Good move.

 

Is there a similar list (supported / unsupported) for mobile browsers?

 

Thanks.

 

(I use a Nokia N800, and I wish your full site could adapt well to an 800-pixel display.)

 

No. We have chosen to focus on designing applications for specific mobile platforms instead (currently iPhone and Android). Given the complexity of the site we simply don't have the resources to design with mobile displays in mind.

Link to comment

I use IE6 at work and I work for DOD. So no Firefox, Chrome etc.. And forget about plugging in a USB for a mobile browser. That will get you 30 days of no network access.

 

So I will deal with the page errors and such.

 

We're using IE 6 where I work for the DOD also. I'll live with the errors, I guess.

Link to comment

I use IE6 at work and I work for DOD.

 

We're using IE 6 where I work for the DOD also. I'll live with the errors, I guess.

I don't think I've ever wanted to actually use a Picard face-palm ASCII art as much as I've wanted to right now.

 

Department of Defense, the people presumably in charge of keeping secret stuff secret mandates use of a nine-year old browser that has the most egregious record of security vulnerabilities and terrible compliance with web standards?

Link to comment

I'm not a big fan of IE6 nor do I use it, but I find this to be an interesting decision considering these points:

 

- IE6 is STILL a current and supported product my Microsoft

- IE6 is still in use by 12% of users overall

- GS has stated that 10% of its users are still using IE6

 

Is GS really wanting to cut 10% of their users?

 

Using numbers that have floated around there are about 80,000 premium users, so approx 8,000 users will be impacted, that's revenues of $240,000/year (8,000 times $30).

 

Wow, doesn't seem like the smartest decision I've ever seen.

Link to comment

I'm not a big fan of IE6 nor do I use it, but I find this to be an interesting decision considering these points:

 

- IE6 is STILL a current and supported product my Microsoft

- IE6 is still in use by 12% of users overall

- GS has stated that 10% of its users are still using IE6

 

Is GS really wanting to cut 10% of their users?

 

Using numbers that have floated around there are about 80,000 premium users, so approx 8,000 users will be impacted, that's revenues of $240,000/year (8,000 times $30).

 

Wow, doesn't seem like the smartest decision I've ever seen.

 

Arguable. I would posit that the 10% figure of geocachers on IE6 are likely to be less-savvy-non-premium members. Probably by more than half.

 

And this decision doesn't "cut" them off anyway -- it just means they won't be getting 'the new features'. However, since these users are using a 9 year old broken browser, i'd say they are rather unlikely to care about new whiz-bang features anyway.

 

All in all, the decision makes sense.

Link to comment

Arguable. I would posit that the 10% figure of geocachers on IE6 are likely to be less-savvy-non-premium members. Probably by more than half.

 

And this decision doesn't "cut" them off anyway -- it just means they won't be getting 'the new features'. However, since these users are using a 9 year old broken browser, i'd say they are rather unlikely to care about new whiz-bang features anyway.

 

All in all, the decision makes sense.

 

 

Not worried about whiz-bangs from work but I can not even bring up a list of caches, as it errors. I can not see caches near another one, do a search where a list would appear or even see my own caches or ones I have visited.

 

 

I do recall a reviewer posting a while back that he does most of his reviewing using IE6 from work so I guess there will be a slow down in cache publications, from him.

 

 

Oh well, such is life! :)

Link to comment

I use IE6 at work and I work for DOD.

 

We're using IE 6 where I work for the DOD also. I'll live with the errors, I guess.

I don't think I've ever wanted to actually use a Picard face-palm ASCII art as much as I've wanted to right now.

 

Department of Defense, the people presumably in charge of keeping secret stuff secret mandates use of a nine-year old browser that has the most egregious record of security vulnerabilities and terrible compliance with web standards?

 

You should be grateful. Do you really want our tax dollars to be used to rewrite ActiveX Document applications that work perfectly well in IE6 but are no longer supported in the latest browsers? The DoD cannot risk adopting new/untested technology, so once they get comfortable with something, it is hard(and expensive) to change. I wouldn't be shocked if they still have new aircraft systems that still use a 286. Remember the Pentium floating point bug? The DoD probably still hasn't let Intel live that one down. The real secrets aren't on machines with access to the outside world.

 

I've been out of defense for the last decade, but my company still uses IE6. There are applications that work perfectly well with it that don't work with newer browsers, and there are way too many more pressing needs than rewriting something that works. I have started using Firefox for personal stuff at work, since it seems like more websites flipped a switch after that IE6 funeral deal. I just cannot upgrade IE and expect work stuff to still work.

Link to comment
what are you DoD employees doing browsing the web at work? Isn't that really an at home/on your own time thing? :unsure::D

I was waiting for that one. I've wondered the same thing.

 

Jack Bauer: "Where is that intel that I need to diffuse this nuclear weapon?!"

DOD Tech: "Um, I'm just booting up my GPS so I can send a geocache that was just published to it, hang on a few more minutes."

Jack Bauer: "You are doing what?!?! I need that intel right..." KABOOOM!

907083-mushroom_cloud_icon.jpg

Link to comment

I do a lot of computer consulting around the area. I am always facinated when I go into a company that has standardized on a 10 year old (or older) platform to conduct 'modern' business. I usually find that they use a 1950's process model for studying the benefits of buying absolutely anything new or changing anything. It just doesn;t fly in todays world.

 

The last place I was at (Jan this year) was using a 3 year old bid to buy new computers that included a Pentium 4 processor running at 2.4 GHz and a 64MB video card, 1GB of RAM, 17" standard flat screens and a 40GB hard drive. All for the 2007 price of $975 per machine. I was told it would take another 2 years to specify, test out, verify and bid out anything newer.

 

The [so called] IT guys are sadly often at the heart of the problem.

Link to comment

I use IE6 at work and I work for DOD. So no Firefox, Chrome etc.. And forget about plugging in a USB for a mobile browser. That will get you 30 days of no network access.

 

So I will deal with the page errors and such.

The acceptable use policy probably also doesn't allow for visiting geocaching.com in the first place, if they want to enforce it strictly.

Link to comment

I'm not a big fan of IE6 nor do I use it, but I find this to be an interesting decision considering these points:

 

- IE6 is STILL a current and supported product my Microsoft

Barely. It's getting critical security fixes, but nothing more. It is anything but a "current" product - there have been two releases which can replace it, and it is a stone tablet in a world of moveable type - it's outdated and a mess to attempt to support compared to all of the other browsers released since. There are many things that you can't do, or can't do well, with JavaScript because IE6's JavaScript performance is so horrid, and just plain doesn't support many things standard in modern browsers.
- IE6 is still in use by 12% of users overall

- GS has stated that 10% of its users are still using IE6

 

Is GS really wanting to cut 10% of their users?

They aren't cutting support, they're just stopping the practice of taking steps to specifically support IE6. Which is exactly what Google is doing.

 

Using numbers that have floated around there are about 80,000 premium users, so approx 8,000 users will be impacted, that's revenues of $240,000/year (8,000 times $30).

 

Wow, doesn't seem like the smartest decision I've ever seen.

That depends. How much money does it cost to continue to support IE6? If you have to have 2 additional developers on the full-time payroll just to keep supporting IE6 with all of its insanity, that easily will eat up most if not all of that $240K/year. Not to mention all the things you can stop doing, resulting in optimizing the website to use less bandwidth, among other things.
Link to comment

I use IE6 at work and I work for DOD. So no Firefox, Chrome etc.. And forget about plugging in a USB for a mobile browser. That will get you 30 days of no network access.

 

So I will deal with the page errors and such.

The acceptable use policy probably also doesn't allow for visiting geocaching.com in the first place, if they want to enforce it strictly.

Actually the policy does allow visiting site like geocaching.com

 

Just has to be on your time....like lunch.

 

edit to add---As of yesterday, I can no longer see cache lists here.

Edited by Shop99er
Link to comment

I can't help but think about all the wasted time people are spending at work recreating instead of.... working.

 

blame it on the slow economy, what else can one do while waiting for the markets to pick up?...you guessed it, geocaching :smile:

Link to comment

I can't help but think about all the wasted time people are spending at work recreating instead of.... working.

 

blame it on the slow economy, what else can one do while waiting for the markets to pick up?...you guessed it, geocaching :smile:

I am constrained by outside forces to add anything more. Sometime down the road I may fill ya in what the peripheral damage is.

Link to comment

I work in the DoD "somewhere" and I have IE8 and Firefox 3.6 installed on my PC - by the local NEC :smile: Hooray for GS for getting rid of IE6. I will be glad to see it go. Unfortunately I still have to deal with it at work on the closed systems as they were built using IE6. They had just upgraded from Windows 2000 in 2006, so I'm looking for an upgrade to either Vista by 2012 or Win7 in 2015.

 

And for those of you who wonder about browsing the net while at work, it's either feast or famine at my job. Being able to browse the net keeps us sane while we are in 'famine' mode. I still can't get YouTube and eBay, but Twitter and Facebook work... Interestingly enough, they also block coord.info as a recreational site, but not Geocaching. Odd.

Edited by jadefalcon
Link to comment

I can't help but think about all the wasted time people are spending at work recreating instead of.... working.

 

blame it on the slow economy, what else can one do while waiting for the markets to pick up?...you guessed it, geocaching ;)

I am constrained by outside forces to add anything more. Sometime down the road I may fill ya in what the peripheral damage is.

 

don't take everything you read too serious, i am aware of "the peripheral damage", it was a joke, the smilie will indicate that <_<

Edited by t4e
Link to comment
And this decision doesn't "cut" them off anyway -- it just means they won't be getting 'the new features'.
It actually does mean that. Those of us who access GC.com from work and are stuck with IE6 whether we like it or not have not been able to access the site since the redesign that went into effect several weeks ago.
Link to comment
I can't help but think about all the wasted time people are spending at work recreating instead of.... working.
My work responsibilities begin and end with ensuring that my program is functioning efficiently and that we are responsive to the needs of the Department. As long as that takes place, I am free to be on the internet as I see fit, as long as I comply with the Department's Acceptable Use Policy. Visiting GC.com does comply wiuth this policy. Running a browser off a thumb drive does not.

 

I suppose that I could twiddle my thumbs, instead.

Link to comment

"I understand that in many cases users are visiting the site from work, and do not have admin rights to their machines. In these cases I recommend putting either Firefox or Chrome on a USB dongle for a portable solution."

 

A USB dongle? In a secure area? Plugged into a company computer? Yeah, sure. That has all the possibilities of giving lots and lots of time to go caching. No money for gas or lunches, but plenty of time.

Oh well, 6 stays untouched here, and the site gets flakier and flakier for me . You outta see the wonderful flashing maps.

Link to comment
Arguable. I would posit that the 10% figure of geocachers on IE6 are likely to be less-savvy-non-premium members. Probably by more than half.
Two thoughts:

 

First, you seem to be stating that all premium members are 'tech savvy'. I have no reason to believe that this is true.

 

Second, you might note that every person who has posted in this thread that they are required to use IE6 is a premium member.

Link to comment

I can't help but think about all of the inept and disinterested company supervisors and managers out there who seem to possess low skills in managing work assignments and in ensuring that their company properly staffs their departments to meet the measurable and observable delivery of the company's products and/or services.

 

You'd think that upper management would have a better handle on the degree to which it's human resources are meeting the organization's goals for maximum operating efficiency.

Link to comment

I can't help but think about all of the inept and disinterested company supervisors and managers out there who seem to possess low skills in managing work assignments and in ensuring that their company properly staffs their departments to meet the measurable and observable delivery of the company's products and/or services.

 

You'd think that upper management would have a better handle on the degree to which it's human resources are meeting the organization's goals for maximum operating efficiency.

I'm having trouble figuring out how your post relates to this thread.

Link to comment

I can't help but think about all of the inept and disinterested company supervisors and managers out there who seem to possess low skills in managing work assignments and in ensuring that their company properly staffs their departments to meet the measurable and observable delivery of the company's products and/or services.

 

You'd think that upper management would have a better handle on the degree to which it's human resources are meeting the organization's goals for maximum operating efficiency.

That read like a Dilbert comic.

Link to comment

Pocket IE is not IE6.

yeah, it's actually much worse <_<

 

but for PDA i recommend skyfire. it's quite a resource hog, but will render the pages much better than that PITA pocket IE.

 

that being said, gc.com is still usable with pocket IE so far, but looks truly horrible.

Link to comment

I can't help but think about all of the inept and disinterested company supervisors and managers out there who seem to possess low skills in managing work assignments and in ensuring that their company properly staffs their departments to meet the measurable and observable delivery of the company's products and/or services.

 

You'd think that upper management would have a better handle on the degree to which it's human resources are meeting the organization's goals for maximum operating efficiency.

I'm having trouble figuring out how your post relates to this thread.

 

Odd isn't it, I had the very same thoughts running through my head while I was composing my post.

 

Go figure.

 

I have a strong suspicion though that at least one poster in here can help you figger it out. ;-)

Edited by Team Cotati
Link to comment

I can't help but think about all of the inept and disinterested company supervisors and managers out there who seem to possess low skills in managing work assignments and in ensuring that their company properly staffs their departments to meet the measurable and observable delivery of the company's products and/or services.

 

You'd think that upper management would have a better handle on the degree to which it's human resources are meeting the organization's goals for maximum operating efficiency.

I'm having trouble figuring out how your post relates to this thread.

 

Odd isn't it, I had the very same thoughts running through my head while I was composing my post.

 

Go figure.

 

I have a strong suspicion though that at least one poster in here can help you figger it out. ;-)

If you knew that your post wasn't on-topic, one wonders why you posted it.

Link to comment

Uhh, isn't discussing whether a post is off topic, off topic in itself?

 

On topic, I'm aware of all the stuff IE6 doesn't do that modern browsers do, but I haven't been able to figure out what IE6 does do that modern browsers don't, that prevent some organizations from upgrading. Can anyone enlighten me?

Link to comment
Uhh, isn't discussing whether a post is off topic, off topic in itself?
I was initially hoping that he would shed some light on how it was on-topic so his issue could be discussed. As is, it's just some wierd, convoluted junk.
On topic, I'm aware of all the stuff IE6 doesn't do that modern browsers do, but I haven't been able to figure out what IE6 does do that modern browsers don't, that prevent some organizations from upgrading. Can anyone enlighten me?
It doesn't require an IT guy to come around and upgrade the browser, for one. (Someone upthread brought up one thing already.) Edited by sbell111
Link to comment

Ahh, I missed that post. Thanks for making me look back through everything. <_<

 

Funny thing, for the last 6 years I've been using Firefox pretty much exclusively on my 7 year old laptop. Out of curiosity I just looked to see what version of IE I have installed, and was amused to find it's IE6 :)

 

I think later I'll get drunk and try to browse the geocaching.com site with it ;)

Link to comment

Good move.

 

Is there a similar list (supported / unsupported) for mobile browsers?

 

Thanks.

 

(I use a Nokia N800, and I wish your full site could adapt well to an 800-pixel display.)

 

No. We have chosen to focus on designing applications for specific mobile platforms instead (currently iPhone and Android). Given the complexity of the site we simply don't have the resources to design with mobile displays in mind.

 

That makes logical sense

I've just bought a Maemo device.

But I'm sure there'll be a way to get around any issues. <_<

Link to comment
On topic, I'm aware of all the stuff IE6 doesn't do that modern browsers do, but I haven't been able to figure out what IE6 does do that modern browsers don't, that prevent some organizations from upgrading. Can anyone enlighten me?

ActiveX controls that only run on IE5.5 & IE6.

Link to comment
On topic, I'm aware of all the stuff IE6 doesn't do that modern browsers do, but I haven't been able to figure out what IE6 does do that modern browsers don't, that prevent some organizations from upgrading. Can anyone enlighten me?
It doesn't require an IT guy to come around and upgrade the browser, for one. (Someone upthread brought up one thing already.)

"Come around"? You should be pushing software out via management tools, not walking to every desk.

Link to comment
On topic, I'm aware of all the stuff IE6 doesn't do that modern browsers do, but I haven't been able to figure out what IE6 does do that modern browsers don't, that prevent some organizations from upgrading. Can anyone enlighten me?
It doesn't require an IT guy to come around and upgrade the browser, for one. (Someone upthread brought up one thing already.)

"Come around"? You should be pushing software out via management tools, not walking to every desk.

Regardless.

Link to comment
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...