Now how will we explore the Internet?
June 15, 2022 3:44 PM Subscribe
BBC: "Microsoft is finally retiring the consumer version of Internet Explorer. It announced the plan last year, making Internet Explorer 11 its final version." The Verge: "The aging web browser is being sunset in favor of Microsoft Edge, with support being officially withdrawn for IE 11 today." XDA: "According to the company, Internet Explorer will 'progressively redirect' users to the new Edge browser. In the coming months, more and more users will start seeing Edge open when they try to open IE, until eventually, the transition will be complete. However, Microsoft isn’t saying when this process will be finished." Previously: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018.
The styling, props, and editing in the video at the top of that Verge piece are so much better than they need to be.
posted by fedward at 4:01 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by fedward at 4:01 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pourin one out on the curb for IE! My very first project as a full time professional software engineer was removing an ActiveX control from a web application I worked on so we could say it worked in Safari.
posted by potrzebie at 4:02 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 4:02 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
When the world ends, as it some day must, it will be due to a web app built for IE6 that is inexplicably still in use.
posted by thecaddy at 4:03 PM on June 15, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by thecaddy at 4:03 PM on June 15, 2022 [17 favorites]
I've been a web developer since the dotcom days, and Internet Explorer was mostly the bane of my existence for a long time (except for odd occasional stretches where it was the best available browser). I haven't hard to worry about it for years, though.
We have a system at work that relies on both Internet Explorer and Silverlight, which Microsoft stopped supporting last October. Internet Explorer lives on in Internet Explorer Mode in Edge, and Silverlight works there, too.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
We have a system at work that relies on both Internet Explorer and Silverlight, which Microsoft stopped supporting last October. Internet Explorer lives on in Internet Explorer Mode in Edge, and Silverlight works there, too.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
I was doing a multimedia course as Internet Explorer landed and I still feel a simmering sense of shame for using HTML tags only it supported.
posted by krisjohn at 4:14 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by krisjohn at 4:14 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
A technology that set the Web back, and back, and back. Literally millions of development hours wasted to support its maddening non-standard behavior, mine included. Ye shan't be missed, IE.
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:15 PM on June 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 4:15 PM on June 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
Also previously (post from 2019, revealing how IE6 was finally killed off back in 2009).
posted by automatronic at 4:17 PM on June 15, 2022
posted by automatronic at 4:17 PM on June 15, 2022
But it's still downloading something!
posted by Sand at 4:37 PM on June 15, 2022 [17 favorites]
posted by Sand at 4:37 PM on June 15, 2022 [17 favorites]
My favorite IE story: a consumer electronics retailer in Australia discovered that 3% of the visitors to their website were using IE7, but their IT department was spending way, way more than 3% of their time trying to adapt their website to work on IE7. So they decided to pass on the cost to those customers. When those customers went to their cart to check out, they were hit with an IE7 tax, along with an explanation of what it was, and ways to upgrade their browser. If the customer DID upgrade, they'd come back to their cart and voila, the tax was gone.
Single best "dark" UX I've ever seen.
posted by nushustu at 5:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [61 favorites]
Single best "dark" UX I've ever seen.
posted by nushustu at 5:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [61 favorites]
So the next computer I buy, I’m supposed to use EDGE as my Firefox downloader?
posted by Mister Moofoo at 5:22 PM on June 15, 2022 [36 favorites]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 5:22 PM on June 15, 2022 [36 favorites]
I tweak all my windows ISOs so that Edge is renamed "Download Firefox" and Windows is named "Steam Launcher"
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:29 PM on June 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:29 PM on June 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
There are still things we use at work that only work on Explorer -- not on Edge, not on Chrome. Not sure what's going to happen there.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:40 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 5:40 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
So the next computer I buy, I’m supposed to use EDGE as my Firefox downloader?
I'm finally getting a "new" (refurbished, but at least upgraded) computer at work after being told 6 years ago I was next in line for one. The very first thing I did was use Edge to download Chrome. The browser had the gall to pop up a special little overlay to tell me I could just keep using Edge instead. I snarled at it but it wasn't intimidated.
The second thing was uninstalling OneDrive. The third thing was the registry hack to remove the bullshit extra folders from "This PC."
Once I'm forced to use Windows 11, the [i]first[/i] thing is going to be to align the taskbar stuff left, and then the second thing will be to download Chrome.
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 PM on June 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I'm finally getting a "new" (refurbished, but at least upgraded) computer at work after being told 6 years ago I was next in line for one. The very first thing I did was use Edge to download Chrome. The browser had the gall to pop up a special little overlay to tell me I could just keep using Edge instead. I snarled at it but it wasn't intimidated.
The second thing was uninstalling OneDrive. The third thing was the registry hack to remove the bullshit extra folders from "This PC."
Once I'm forced to use Windows 11, the [i]first[/i] thing is going to be to align the taskbar stuff left, and then the second thing will be to download Chrome.
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 PM on June 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
One of my first bosses had Internet Explorer for Mac installed. I'd make a webpage, test it on every actually-in-use browser, it would look fine. I'd send him the link, it would look like shit. I'd then spend as much time as I'd spent on optimizing for the actually-in-use browsers fixing it so he'd see it right.
Finally, one night I snuck in to his office and uninstalled IE for Mac.
Problem solved.
posted by signal at 5:54 PM on June 15, 2022 [21 favorites]
Finally, one night I snuck in to his office and uninstalled IE for Mac.
Problem solved.
posted by signal at 5:54 PM on June 15, 2022 [21 favorites]
I'm no fan of PowerShell for reasons I will spare you from discussion but it does come with significantly more capabilities than the traditional NT shell toolset. You can bootstrap a stock Windows system into basic usability with:
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-msi-latest-ssl&os=win64&lang=en-US" -OutFile firefox.msi
Taken from here. Untested but plausible assuming the mozilla URL is still good. I don't have any more Windows machines of my own; my Steam Launcher runs Debian.
posted by majick at 6:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-msi-latest-ssl&os=win64&lang=en-US" -OutFile firefox.msi
Taken from here. Untested but plausible assuming the mozilla URL is still good. I don't have any more Windows machines of my own; my Steam Launcher runs Debian.
posted by majick at 6:06 PM on June 15, 2022 [4 favorites]
I’m embarrassed to say so, but I like Edge. I use it at work so I’m so deep in the Microsoft world that it seems silly to avoid it on principle, and it’s pretty good. Nice interface and features, quick results. I like that collections are a basic feature instead of a special plugin.
posted by Kriesa at 7:08 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Kriesa at 7:08 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
There are still things we use at work that only work on Explorer -- not on Edge, not on Chrome. Not sure what's going to happen there.They most likely will end up using IE-mode in Edge at least for now, which will work until at least 2029 so long as they're on a supported version of Windows. Whether or not they take advantage of that timeframe to figure out a migration strategy remains to be seen.
posted by Aleyn at 7:22 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Interestingly, I just had reason to use one of those IE-only things (our vacation request tool) and it had been made to work in Edge, which is new in the last few months. So I guess we are a little further ahead on this than I would have guessed.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:43 PM on June 15, 2022
posted by jacquilynne at 7:43 PM on June 15, 2022
@AdaRoseCannon:
Congrats to Microsoft for finally being able to nail shut Internet Explorer's coffin. A great browser for its time but a yoke on the www for the past many yearsposted by vibratory manner of working at 7:50 PM on June 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I hope we never again see a browser reach 90% market share
"...take advantage of that timeframe to figure out a migration strategy..."
This has never happened in the history of ever.
posted by majick at 7:50 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
This has never happened in the history of ever.
posted by majick at 7:50 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
I'm not embarrassed to say it. Edge is fine. You could complain about how it's harvesting my personal data and giving it to a megacorp but... chrome, lol.
posted by wotsac at 8:08 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 8:08 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
If someone is going to harvest my web browsing data, I'd prefer it not be the same company that has all my email, contact, and location data too.
I suppose that Microsoft has its reasons (presumably legal) but I'm still annoyed that when I spin up a new Windows Server 2019 system, it doesn't have Edge on it. I have to go through the three or four perplexing Internet Explorer "security" dialogs to download Firefox. I've had enough problems trying to download Chrome, because the web page is so stuffed with tracking Javascript, and trying to download Edge leads me down a maze of web pages that require a modern browser, that Firefox and its simple download link is the most reliable.
posted by meowzilla at 8:58 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I suppose that Microsoft has its reasons (presumably legal) but I'm still annoyed that when I spin up a new Windows Server 2019 system, it doesn't have Edge on it. I have to go through the three or four perplexing Internet Explorer "security" dialogs to download Firefox. I've had enough problems trying to download Chrome, because the web page is so stuffed with tracking Javascript, and trying to download Edge leads me down a maze of web pages that require a modern browser, that Firefox and its simple download link is the most reliable.
posted by meowzilla at 8:58 PM on June 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I don't believe in technology that ambushes you into compliance by repetitive annoyance and confusion.
At least three times Edge has made itself default PDF reader, or rather, as Microsoft calls PDFs in settings, "Microsoft Edge PDF Documents".
Not to mention the default app settings are totally unnecessarily hard to use.
posted by lookoutbelow at 9:21 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
At least three times Edge has made itself default PDF reader, or rather, as Microsoft calls PDFs in settings, "Microsoft Edge PDF Documents".
Not to mention the default app settings are totally unnecessarily hard to use.
posted by lookoutbelow at 9:21 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
When the world ends, as it some day must, it will be due to a web app built for IE6 that is inexplicably still in use.
If Battlestar Galactica has taught us anything, it's that the world will be saved because the warship still running IE6 is the only one immune from a virus, due to the idiosyncratic nature of the javascript engine.
posted by mark k at 9:23 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
If Battlestar Galactica has taught us anything, it's that the world will be saved because the warship still running IE6 is the only one immune from a virus, due to the idiosyncratic nature of the javascript engine.
posted by mark k at 9:23 PM on June 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
If Battlestar Galactica taught us anything, it was that the Cylons never had a freaking plan. Never! Over and over and over again they told us "they have a plan." And did they? No, sir and/or madam, they did not. There was no plan! There was never a plan! The entire show was based on a bed of lies!
posted by kirkaracha at 9:37 PM on June 15, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 9:37 PM on June 15, 2022 [12 favorites]
The worst thing about Edge is unquestionably Microsoft's heavy-handed attempts to convince people to use Edge. They should have pivoted hard away from IE branding with Edge to give the tastemakers an opportunity to treat it as a fresh start rather than as a continuation of IE's shameful legacy. It was quite a good browser, at least until Google started fucking with their websites to deliberately try and break other browsers.
posted by Merus at 9:48 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Merus at 9:48 PM on June 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
I hope we never again see a browser reach 90% market share
Isn’t Chrome just about 10 percent short?
posted by atoxyl at 12:12 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Isn’t Chrome just about 10 percent short?
posted by atoxyl at 12:12 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
The only time I ever use Edge, which seems ok enough (but I prefer Firefox with all of my adblocking stuff) is when my windows start screen is, indeed, intriguing enough to warrant a click to find out what I'm looking at. Mind you, the page it takes me to, in Edge, is usually less-than-satisfying, info-wise, but it gives me the clues I need to find more on Wikipedia or whatever.
When I was restoring a particular car a few years back, one of the two main specialists selling parts had an ecommerce site which ONLY worked in IE11. So I had to fire up that monstrosity once or twice a month to order some obscure bits.
My typical encounter with IE11 is when a non-profit I'm working on a web site for has a board member or CEO stuck with a computer which only has IE on it, so everything has to work in that browser. This has bit my arse on a few occasions where I forget to mention the 25% surcharge for "pixel perfect" IE rendering vs. standards-compliant browsers. (Safari, until somewhat recently, was also a surcharge browser.)
posted by maxwelton at 1:10 AM on June 16, 2022
When I was restoring a particular car a few years back, one of the two main specialists selling parts had an ecommerce site which ONLY worked in IE11. So I had to fire up that monstrosity once or twice a month to order some obscure bits.
My typical encounter with IE11 is when a non-profit I'm working on a web site for has a board member or CEO stuck with a computer which only has IE on it, so everything has to work in that browser. This has bit my arse on a few occasions where I forget to mention the 25% surcharge for "pixel perfect" IE rendering vs. standards-compliant browsers. (Safari, until somewhat recently, was also a surcharge browser.)
posted by maxwelton at 1:10 AM on June 16, 2022
@atoxyl
Usage share in the mid 60% range currently.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:34 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Usage share in the mid 60% range currently.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:34 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I use the Linux Edge beta as a daily driver. Enjoy using it quite a bit. Seems to just work and doesn't chew/leak memory in the same way Chrome / Firefox did on Linux; on Windows these browsers don't seem to eat quite so much ram.
Also, I'll mention Mosaic which Microsoft licensed to create IE back in the day.
posted by phigmov at 1:50 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Also, I'll mention Mosaic which Microsoft licensed to create IE back in the day.
posted by phigmov at 1:50 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
There are still things we use at work that only work on Explorer -- not on Edge, not on Chrome. Not sure what's going to happen there.
Same! as it ever was. :/
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:53 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Same! as it ever was. :/
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:53 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
the video at the top of that Verge piece
That one worried me at first, because I've never heard of that Tom Warren, buts that's a name I made up for throw-away accounts. When I saw that name up top there for a second I thought I was being surveilled and busted or something. Some kind of web 3.0 shenanigans.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:24 AM on June 16, 2022
That one worried me at first, because I've never heard of that Tom Warren, buts that's a name I made up for throw-away accounts. When I saw that name up top there for a second I thought I was being surveilled and busted or something. Some kind of web 3.0 shenanigans.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:24 AM on June 16, 2022
Forget about IE: its departure isn't the good news you think it is. The loathsome ActiveX lives on in Office until like 2029 or something, so we'll be seeing fresh new exploits from it for many tear-stained years.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:50 AM on June 16, 2022
posted by wenestvedt at 5:50 AM on June 16, 2022
The original Internet Explorer was a lifesaver.
Through a combination of DLL hell and me being a dumbass kid poking around, our Windows for Workgroups 3.11 installation was particularly unstable. The sound card only worked half the time, the desktop glitched immediately after Windows started up, and for some reason Netscape Navigator would crash immediately after the splash screen came up. I think we went a couple months putting up with this and reverting to an old copy of Spry Mosaic until that started crashing too (something to do with winsock?). But the original IE just worked and we used it for a couple years before upgrading to Windows 95.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Through a combination of DLL hell and me being a dumbass kid poking around, our Windows for Workgroups 3.11 installation was particularly unstable. The sound card only worked half the time, the desktop glitched immediately after Windows started up, and for some reason Netscape Navigator would crash immediately after the splash screen came up. I think we went a couple months putting up with this and reverting to an old copy of Spry Mosaic until that started crashing too (something to do with winsock?). But the original IE just worked and we used it for a couple years before upgrading to Windows 95.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:08 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Seeing that this post is tagged with "Chrome", "Firefox", but not "Opera", I thought I'd mention that Opera exists. I have never tried it myself, though.
posted by WalkingAround at 6:21 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by WalkingAround at 6:21 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Through a combination of DLL hell and me being a dumbass kid poking around, our Windows for Workgroups 3.11 installation was particularly unstable. The sound card only worked half the time, the desktop glitched immediately after Windows started up, and for some reason Netscape Navigator would crash immediately after the splash screen came up. I think we went a couple months putting up with this and reverting to an old copy of Spry Mosaic until that started crashing too (something to do with winsock?). But the original IE just worked and we used it for a couple years before upgrading to Windows 95.
Holy cow, reading that paragraph just gave me a flashback to 30 years ago.
posted by darkstar at 7:05 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Holy cow, reading that paragraph just gave me a flashback to 30 years ago.
posted by darkstar at 7:05 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
I've been using Brave for about six months. It's [review]:
The bad side is Brave has its own internal spaminess, but you can turn that off easily.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:23 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
...a privacy-focused alternative to Google Chrome. Brave is based on the Chromium source code but strips out all of the privacy-violating Google code. The result is a browser that looks and feels just like Chrome, but with greater online privacy features.It works fine and blocks tons of ads and JavaScript.
The bad side is Brave has its own internal spaminess, but you can turn that off easily.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:23 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, Brave's CEO Brendan Eich is a bit of a dick. Just so you know. [Previously]
posted by chavenet at 7:27 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 7:27 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Brace, Edge, and Opera use the same Chromium browsing engine as Chrome.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:27 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 7:27 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Brave, Edge, and Opera use the same Chromium browsing engine as Chrome.
And Vivaldi, which after adopting a couple years ago I can't live without. Tab-tiling, people. Absolute UX game changer for me.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:49 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
And Vivaldi, which after adopting a couple years ago I can't live without. Tab-tiling, people. Absolute UX game changer for me.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:49 AM on June 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
"technology that set the Web back, and back, and back"
I am going to respectfully disagree... The entire modern web since the introduction of Chrome and FireFox has been built on being able to send data-chunks back and forth, without re-sending all of the HTML/CSS/images each time.
This technology - XmlHttpRequest, was introduced by Microsoft in IE - it was originally an ActiveX/COM component, but the other browsers quickly copied it - and it eventually became part of the web standards.
XmlHttpRequest
Outside of that... I hate IE...
posted by rozcakj at 8:54 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I am going to respectfully disagree... The entire modern web since the introduction of Chrome and FireFox has been built on being able to send data-chunks back and forth, without re-sending all of the HTML/CSS/images each time.
This technology - XmlHttpRequest, was introduced by Microsoft in IE - it was originally an ActiveX/COM component, but the other browsers quickly copied it - and it eventually became part of the web standards.
XmlHttpRequest
Outside of that... I hate IE...
posted by rozcakj at 8:54 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can we talk about this strange locution: "...the aging browser is being sunset..."
While I'm not a fan of "sunset" as a verb, I get it and have seen it in plenty of corporate contexts. But when did we decide that "sunset," and not "sunsetted" is the participle?
posted by yellowcandy at 8:56 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
While I'm not a fan of "sunset" as a verb, I get it and have seen it in plenty of corporate contexts. But when did we decide that "sunset," and not "sunsetted" is the participle?
posted by yellowcandy at 8:56 AM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
But when did we decide that "sunset," and not "sunsetted" is the participle?
I think we should "table" that for future discussion, we will double-check the "roadmap*" to see if all possible directions are applicable to our organization...
Once the discussion of proper use of "sunset" is added to the backlog, we will determine who should "action" on that. Depending on our "synergy", this will become the "new normal".
* (it is "route", not roadmap, a map shows all possible routes, you really want to be on one - maybe two - to be successful...).
posted by rozcakj at 9:06 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think we should "table" that for future discussion, we will double-check the "roadmap*" to see if all possible directions are applicable to our organization...
Once the discussion of proper use of "sunset" is added to the backlog, we will determine who should "action" on that. Depending on our "synergy", this will become the "new normal".
* (it is "route", not roadmap, a map shows all possible routes, you really want to be on one - maybe two - to be successful...).
posted by rozcakj at 9:06 AM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, Brave's CEO Brendan Eich is a bit of a dick. Just so you know.There was a weird moment a few years ago when Brave decided to included a white supremacist search-engine among those you could choose from in your settings. And then it was quietly removed from their GH repo.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 9:33 AM on June 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
> But when did we decide that "sunset," and not "sunsetted" is the participle?
May I suggest "sunsat" as a compromise
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:39 AM on June 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
May I suggest "sunsat" as a compromise
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:39 AM on June 16, 2022 [10 favorites]
More seriously I'd say that after you set a table, you'd say that the table has been set, not that the table has been setted, so I think the analysis for "sunset" as a verb goes similarly.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:40 AM on June 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:40 AM on June 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Sunlain
posted by rhizome at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 1:56 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Usage share in the mid 60% range currently.
Mobile also complicates all of this, because Safari’s share there is much higher and Chrome’s is lower. I was really just thinking desktop (which is a silly thing to think at this point but hey that’s why I don’t do frontend dev anymore…)
For desktop it looks like Chrome is upper 60s to low 70s.
posted by atoxyl at 5:21 PM on June 16, 2022
Mobile also complicates all of this, because Safari’s share there is much higher and Chrome’s is lower. I was really just thinking desktop (which is a silly thing to think at this point but hey that’s why I don’t do frontend dev anymore…)
For desktop it looks like Chrome is upper 60s to low 70s.
posted by atoxyl at 5:21 PM on June 16, 2022
Brave decided to included a white supremacist search-engine
A what?
posted by atoxyl at 5:22 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
A what?
posted by atoxyl at 5:22 PM on June 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
When the world ends, as it some day must, it will be due to a web app built for IE6 that is inexplicably still in use.
Is it Citrix? I bet it's going to be fuckin' Citrix, isn't it? If it's not Citrix I bet it'll be iFrames!
So the next computer I buy, I’m supposed to use EDGE as my Firefox downloader?
Get a thumb drive, put a bunch of wares on it and update the installer like once a year? I have a folder full of installers for things like Firefox or alternative browsers I just keep placed on various drives so I always have something around so I don't have to even launch a default browser.
Granted I told Windows to take a hike years ago. If any work or job I do absolutely requires Windows I probably don't want it anyway, but the same goes for applications. I think the only Windows app I miss is WinAMP, and, well, we have VLC now but it's not nearly as charming and quirky.
Once I'm forced to use Windows 11, the [i]first[/i] thing is going to be to align the taskbar stuff left, and then the second thing will be to download Chrome.
About two years ago I was treated to a new but budget-ish Lenovo laptop and I knew that the very first thing I was going to do was wipe the drive before it even tried to boot Windows 10.1. I picked it out because it had great Linux driver support and everything.
Of course I still failed at that. They shipped me the fucking thing new in box pre-booted and sleeping for an extra snazzy and quick first boot experience. I didn't even get a chance to go into BIOS and set it to boot from USB or wipe the UEFI options and the next thing I know I have fucking Cortana talking at me at max volume and I'm yelling "OFF. TURN OFF. FUCK YOOUUUU CORTANA FUCK FUCK TURN THE FUCK OFF!" at my brand new computer while trying to hold down the tiny power button and do a hard, cold shutdown ASAP.
All that being said I was helping a housemate with their computer and it had been so long since I'd even seen Windows that I struggled to get it to display the drive list so I could eject a USB drive and it was embarrassing as fuck.
"Wait, I thought you knew computers?"
"Uhh, yeah... I do, but... omg fuck Windows 10 and this stupid Metro interface. For fuck's sake I can eject a drive and do wizard shit from the command line and Windows is going to make me do weird shit with Metro just to eject a frickin' USB drive WHERE THE HELL EVEN IS "MY COMPUTER" THESE DAYS WHERE IS THE "GO UP" BUTTON WHY ARE YOU SO BRAIN DAMAGED NOW WINDOWS?"
OS X isn't much better. You want to know what's really fun? Trying to get an up to date secure browser installed in OS X that's past its prime and has hit its upgrade wall. Want to OTA upgrade OS X? You'll need to update Safari! But wait, you can't update Safari because you need to update OS X!
Hey OS X, say hello my little thumb drive full of Linux!
posted by loquacious at 6:03 PM on June 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Is it Citrix? I bet it's going to be fuckin' Citrix, isn't it? If it's not Citrix I bet it'll be iFrames!
So the next computer I buy, I’m supposed to use EDGE as my Firefox downloader?
Get a thumb drive, put a bunch of wares on it and update the installer like once a year? I have a folder full of installers for things like Firefox or alternative browsers I just keep placed on various drives so I always have something around so I don't have to even launch a default browser.
Granted I told Windows to take a hike years ago. If any work or job I do absolutely requires Windows I probably don't want it anyway, but the same goes for applications. I think the only Windows app I miss is WinAMP, and, well, we have VLC now but it's not nearly as charming and quirky.
Once I'm forced to use Windows 11, the [i]first[/i] thing is going to be to align the taskbar stuff left, and then the second thing will be to download Chrome.
About two years ago I was treated to a new but budget-ish Lenovo laptop and I knew that the very first thing I was going to do was wipe the drive before it even tried to boot Windows 10.1. I picked it out because it had great Linux driver support and everything.
Of course I still failed at that. They shipped me the fucking thing new in box pre-booted and sleeping for an extra snazzy and quick first boot experience. I didn't even get a chance to go into BIOS and set it to boot from USB or wipe the UEFI options and the next thing I know I have fucking Cortana talking at me at max volume and I'm yelling "OFF. TURN OFF. FUCK YOOUUUU CORTANA FUCK FUCK TURN THE FUCK OFF!" at my brand new computer while trying to hold down the tiny power button and do a hard, cold shutdown ASAP.
All that being said I was helping a housemate with their computer and it had been so long since I'd even seen Windows that I struggled to get it to display the drive list so I could eject a USB drive and it was embarrassing as fuck.
"Wait, I thought you knew computers?"
"Uhh, yeah... I do, but... omg fuck Windows 10 and this stupid Metro interface. For fuck's sake I can eject a drive and do wizard shit from the command line and Windows is going to make me do weird shit with Metro just to eject a frickin' USB drive WHERE THE HELL EVEN IS "MY COMPUTER" THESE DAYS WHERE IS THE "GO UP" BUTTON WHY ARE YOU SO BRAIN DAMAGED NOW WINDOWS?"
OS X isn't much better. You want to know what's really fun? Trying to get an up to date secure browser installed in OS X that's past its prime and has hit its upgrade wall. Want to OTA upgrade OS X? You'll need to update Safari! But wait, you can't update Safari because you need to update OS X!
Hey OS X, say hello my little thumb drive full of Linux!
posted by loquacious at 6:03 PM on June 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
I love edge
I love that saying that seems subversive
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 11:37 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
I love that saying that seems subversive
posted by thegirlwiththehat at 11:37 PM on June 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
So the next computer I buy, I’m supposed to use EDGE as my Firefox downloader?
⊞R powershell
wget -O ff.exe https://ninite.com/firefox/ninite.exe
.\ff
posted by flabdablet at 4:55 AM on June 17, 2022
⊞R powershell
wget -O ff.exe https://ninite.com/firefox/ninite.exe
.\ff
posted by flabdablet at 4:55 AM on June 17, 2022
@MicrosoftEdge's eulogy:
posted by autopilot at 6:47 AM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
To our predecessor: You helped the world explore the internet along with every facet of life. Now, it's time to surf the big web in the sky 🕊The tweet prominently features an Amiga 1000 with an original Motorola 68000, which was released in 1985 and probably never ran Internet Explorer. Microsoft did release an Internet Explorer version for 68k Macs running System 7.5, although I believe it also required a more advanced CPU with an MMU.
posted by autopilot at 6:47 AM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Brave decided to included a white supremacist search-engineIt's called Infogalactic.
> A what?
According to this comment in 2019 it was removed, but it seems they're still testing for it today.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 9:56 AM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
(PS. I love that I've been on here so long that I can start reading a comment and know immediately that it's by loquacious.)
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 10:02 AM on June 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 10:02 AM on June 17, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's called Infogalactic.
Oh, it’s Vox Day’s (remember him?) far right Wikipedia knockoff, I guess.
posted by atoxyl at 10:18 AM on June 17, 2022
Oh, it’s Vox Day’s (remember him?) far right Wikipedia knockoff, I guess.
posted by atoxyl at 10:18 AM on June 17, 2022
There are still things we use at work that only work on Explorer -- not on Edge, not on Chrome. Not sure what's going to happen there.
I "support" computers from three different vendors who all still require IE. One uses ActiveX, another uses Silverlight. The third?
Must have Windows 7. Must be 32-bit.
....
and it must use IE 8.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 12:02 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I "support" computers from three different vendors who all still require IE. One uses ActiveX, another uses Silverlight. The third?
Must have Windows 7. Must be 32-bit.
....
and it must use IE 8.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 12:02 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Microsoft did release an Internet Explorer version for 68k Macs running System 7.5
Internet Explorer for Mac version 5 had a better rendering engine than IE for Windows did and was the more standards compliant browser. What's especially weird is that there was a period of maybe six months to a year when Internet Explorer for Mac version 5 was actually the best browser for Macs. Then Camino (originally named Chimera) came along and proved that a browser could be both Gecko-based AND Mac native instead of having weird ported UI code all over, Apple released Safari, and Microsoft decided to focus on other things.
posted by fedward at 12:05 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
Internet Explorer for Mac version 5 had a better rendering engine than IE for Windows did and was the more standards compliant browser. What's especially weird is that there was a period of maybe six months to a year when Internet Explorer for Mac version 5 was actually the best browser for Macs. Then Camino (originally named Chimera) came along and proved that a browser could be both Gecko-based AND Mac native instead of having weird ported UI code all over, Apple released Safari, and Microsoft decided to focus on other things.
posted by fedward at 12:05 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
I "support" computers from three different vendors who all still require IE. One uses ActiveX, another uses Silverlight. The third?This also means that the version of Windows they're using is also now unsupported, unprotected, and riddled with security issues.
And, possibly, depending on the vendor, exactly what they want.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:21 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
This also means that the version of Windows they're using is also now unsupported, unprotected, and riddled with security issues.
Oh, I know. I know. I've been fighting that battle (and losing, obviously) since EOL for Win 7 was announced. Our security team is good and I bet they fucking hate they are getting overridden on this one. (Fun fact: one of them caught WannaCry two days ago. At least that one's offline now.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 2:00 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oh, I know. I know. I've been fighting that battle (and losing, obviously) since EOL for Win 7 was announced. Our security team is good and I bet they fucking hate they are getting overridden on this one. (Fun fact: one of them caught WannaCry two days ago. At least that one's offline now.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 2:00 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
And, possibly, depending on the vendor, exactly what they want.
Now that you mention it.... it is kind of what they want. They have a new product out that works with Win 10 that they are trying to push all their customers on to.... And that department is working on it, but it's expensive and getting all the (non-computer) hardware to work with it is also expensive and a bit of a challenge.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 2:16 PM on June 17, 2022
Now that you mention it.... it is kind of what they want. They have a new product out that works with Win 10 that they are trying to push all their customers on to.... And that department is working on it, but it's expensive and getting all the (non-computer) hardware to work with it is also expensive and a bit of a challenge.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 2:16 PM on June 17, 2022
It's called Infogalactic
At least now have the beastie boys stuck in my head now, which is always a good thing
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:58 AM on June 18, 2022
At least now have the beastie boys stuck in my head now, which is always a good thing
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:58 AM on June 18, 2022
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posted by WalkingAround at 3:49 PM on June 15, 2022 [11 favorites]