Re: info center search. III.

On Fri, 10 May 2002, Dr Syd Nicholson wrote:

> Using IE in MS Windows has its problems - but - I use Netscape 6 running
> in Linux. The info centre does not function correctly in Netscape. There
> are many, many errors that I experience. These errors make it almost
> impossible to use the info centre in this environment.
>
> 1. Windows are not displayed or are empty
> 2. The search window is often empty
> 3. Links to other web pages don't work
> 4. Netscape crashes and closes
> 5. Links in search pages often do not work, sometimes it is every
> alternate link that works.


I'm running Mozilla under FreeBSD (though I've used the Linux one and had
the same results) and I don't have the issues that you mentioned.

I do have problems with the Java navigation applet on the left.  It causes
the browser to lock up (and is the only Java applet that I can't get to
work with the FreeBSD-native JVM)

But, if I turn off Java the remainder of the web page works fine.

Web pages by nature are SUPPOSED to be platorm-neutral.   Yet, when I told
IBM about this problem, they told me to run Windows.

>
> I feel I am forced to use MS Windows if I need to use the Info Centre.
> In IE the info centre is considerably better, and more reliable, than in
> Netscape.
>

Strange, for me in Win98SE running IE (I dont have the version handy) I
get JavaScript errors in the Info Center.

In fact, the ONLY browser thats worked consistently with all features of
the Info Center is Netscape 4.7x running under Windows.

Err.. If I didn't say so already, this is the online version of Info
Center, not the CD.   The CD is basically completely useless if you're
not running Windows.

>
> Do the people who create the web pages, etc. take into account that the
> info centre users are not all MS Windows and IE users.
>

I don't mind the Info Center in general.  But the Windows-specific stuff
is a constant headache.   It should be EASY to make Java & JavaScript so
that they are platform-neutral.  Why hasn't IBM done this?