Please tell me this isn’t really a frequently asked question

15 Responses to Please tell me this isn’t really a frequently asked question

1. Eva says:

   April 23, 2012 at 9:53 pm

   Is the answer “Download another browser”? Because it should be.
2. Cath@VWXYNot? says:

   April 23, 2012 at 9:55 pm

   The answer is apparently “We have identified problems with Internet Explorer 4.x using Macintosh systems. Fixes have been tested for most issues, and we are still working on outstanding ones. You can download Internet Explorer, version 5, free of charge from the Internet.”

   I wonder how big a team they have working on the outstanding issues?!
3. Richard Wintle says:

   April 24, 2012 at 12:05 am

   Since I don’t have any idea what version IE is at for the Mac, this is kind of lost on me. But I can’t help but think that the problem could simply be poor coding on the Common C.V. site, which as you know, is a horrid piece of web programming.

   Still, it’s better than ProGrid (ask the olde-timers around you if you’re not familiar with that particular evil).
4. Cath@VWXYNot? says:

   April 24, 2012 at 1:29 am

   Why would anyone use any version of IE on any Mac?

   I hate the Common CV system today, as you know from private correspondence! Although I guess technically the problem is with the funding agency, not CCV itself. But still.
   • Richard Wintle says:

     April 24, 2012 at 2:17 pm

     Dunno. I use Firefox, but not on a Mac. I’m tied to IE for our secure offsite webmail, which uses MS Forefront.

     And yes, what you said about CCV. Think we’ve got it sorted now. The “Program Name” field was the culprit in almost all cases I think (not req’d by CCV, but that there funding agency you speak of crashes miserably if it doesn’t see it filled).
     • Cath@VWXYNot? says:

       April 24, 2012 at 4:39 pm

       We thought that was the problem (and indeed it was for some people), but not in my boss’s case – I added the program name to all fields and it still wasn’t working. It turned out to be the current and pending grants where the prof submitting the CV is the PI of the grant: in the CCV system I’d selected “Principal applicant / Project leader” rather than co-applicant for those grants, then left the box that says “If you are a co-applicant, identify the principal applicant / Project leader” blank. This meant that there was no PI identified for those grants within the funding agency’s system. FAIL.

       I see they’re making major changes to the CCV system in June. Hopefully good ones, but either way I’m guessing the transitional period will be fraught with this kind of communication error.
5. Mike says:

   April 24, 2012 at 10:52 am

   I rather hope the answer would be “jump in your jalopy and speed on into the 21st century.”

   Or “still using IE4? Get the hell out of academia.”
   • Cath@VWXYNot? says:

     April 24, 2012 at 4:40 pm

     Or “IE4??!! SRSLY??!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! OK, we’re gonna attach metadata to your CV that causes the automatic rejection of all your grants, ‘cos clearly you’re an eejit”
6. Grant says:

   April 25, 2012 at 11:56 am

   Microsoft no longer make versions of IE for the Mac, haven’t for years. Really old versions like v4 probably only work under the Classic emulator, which itself is phased out. (Classic allows programs developed for the older Mac OS to run under Mac OS X. The latest version of MacOS X, Lion, no longer supports Classic.)

   But, yes, the correct fix is “for goodness sakes get a current browser for the love of everything sane”.

   Besides Safari, Apple’s own browser (which is available for Windows) comes with the OS. Nothing to do – just use the existing browser.

   Disclosure: I no longer know what browser I prefer as I think that while all of them render pages well, have decent user interfaces, etc., they all perform terribly under heavy loads or, in particular, low RAM. (Personally I smell an OS issue, but what gives?)
   • Mike says:

     April 25, 2012 at 1:26 pm

     Heh – this reminds me of an issue I thought Microsoft had been suffering from for a while.

     How come Mac can bundle a particular web browser (Safari) with their OS, but Windows got into big trouble for only putting Exploder in their OS?
     • Richard Wintle says:

       April 25, 2012 at 3:33 pm

       Mike – I think the answer to your question is market share. Microsoft had by far the largest piece of the OS market pie, thus triggering antitrust investigation because of their perceived “monopoly” (better stated, “big market share” – the term “monopoly” is abused mercilessly in these kinds of investigations). If the market had been reversed with Mac/Apple being the top dog, they would (probably?) have been subjected to the same scrutiny.

       Or maybe not. It’s an interesting thought question.
       • Mike says:

         April 25, 2012 at 4:18 pm

         Yep. Particularly so in the new tablet world, where iOS and Android are fighting for supremacy, each with their own built in browser. If one starts to win, perhaps they’ll be inviting trouble.
7. Massimo says:

   April 29, 2012 at 4:53 am

   I am sure it is a “frequently asked question”. By the way, the choice of browser on a Mac is not as obvious as one might think, especially now with Google Apps gaining traction. I have been using Chrome for a year now, and I don’t see myself going back any time soon.
   • Cath@VWXYNot? says:

     May 10, 2012 at 9:58 pm

     I use Chrome, too – I used to use Firefox, but it got really slow after a while. Some programmes don’t work in it though, e.g. my work VPN system, so I do use Safari too.

     I have never sullied MacTavish with Internet Explorer, though, and never will!

Comments are closed.