Browser for reading Hotmail?

SlickRCBD wrote:

MicroSith just "upgraded" their hotmail service, and instead of giving
me a one-time warning that my Firefox 2.0.20 is outdated that I can
say "ok" and not have to view again as long as I don't clear cookies,
it's now taking me to a screen and telling me I need to upgrade my
browser.

Can somebody please provide a working link to a newer browser than
Firefox 2.020 I can follow in Firefox 2.0.20, Mozilla 1.7final, or
some ancient version of IE5 that is normally disabled?

And then SlickRCBD wrote again:

Good news is that within two hours of the new system, they allowed
a link for older browsers. Bad news is that the new system is
even more script-heavy and bloated than the previous one. It's
as bad as Comcast's SmartMail, if not worse.

I'm replying to this and cross-posting it to these additional groups:

- microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion
- alt.windows98

You are advised to check the traffic on any group before you post to
it. You'll find that the group you originally posted this to
(microsoft.public.win98.internet.browser) is seldom used.

To address your particular problem, the solution is to modify Firefox's
User Agent string. Web browsers send out these strings when
communicating with web servers. The string includes (among other
things) the brand and version of the browser. You need to have Firefox
send out an incorrect version number as part of it's User Agent string.

To do this, enter "about:config" in the Firefox address bar. On the
"Filter" bar, enter "agent".

You should see something called "general.useragent.extra.firefox", and
it's value should say "Firefox/2.0.0.20". If you don't see that item,
you can create it. Right-click on it, and select "modify", and change
it to read "Firefox/3.0.0.20". In other words, change it's major
version number from 2 to 3. This will trick some websites to not
complain that you are running an older / unsupported browser. They will
think you are running Firefox version 3.

If you read some of the recent posts in
microsoft.public.win98.gen_discussion, you will find posts relating to
Adobe Flash and how to install various flash versions on win-98. You
might find that information useful as well.

On 27/07/10 01:07, 98 Guy wrote:
SlickRCBD wrote:

MicroSith just "upgraded" their hotmail service, and instead of giving
me a one-time warning that my Firefox 2.0.20 is outdated that I can
say "ok" and not have to view again as long as I don't clear cookies,
it's now taking me to a screen and telling me I need to upgrade my
browser.

Can somebody please provide a working link to a newer browser than
Firefox 2.020 I can follow in Firefox 2.0.20, Mozilla 1.7final, or
some ancient version of IE5 that is normally disabled?

And then SlickRCBD wrote again:

Good news is that within two hours of the new system, they allowed
a link for older browsers. Bad news is that the new system is
even more script-heavy and bloated than the previous one. It's
as bad as Comcast's SmartMail, if not worse.


I too am running Firefox 2.0.0.20 ( without any tweaks or script/ad
blockers) but I never get any warnings to upgrade my browser when I
login to Hotmail.

Mind you, I am not complaining about the lack of warning to upgrade the
browser but I wonder why it behaves so with my setup?

Ed

Ed wrote:

MicroSith just "upgraded" their hotmail service, and instead of
giving me a one-time warning that my Firefox 2.0.20 is outdated
that I can say "ok" and not have to view again as long as I
don't clear cookies, it's now taking me to a screen and telling
me I need to upgrade my browser.

I too am running Firefox 2.0.0.20 ( without any tweaks or script/ad
blockers) but I never get any warnings to upgrade my browser when I
login to Hotmail.

Interesting.

With my user-agent set to Firefox/3.0.0.20, I also got the message about
having an unsupported browser when logging into "Windows Live" a few
minutes ago.

I changed my user-agent to say "Firefox/3.6.8" (the most current
version) and tried again, and this time it worked - no message about
having an old browser.

So I changed it back to "Firefox/3.0.0.20" - and it still worked. So
I'm not sure what's going on.

Anyone that can't log into Windows Live (I don't think you can actually
log into "Hotmail" any more) because of an "Outdated Browser" error, and
if you're using Firefox 2.x, then try changing your user-agent string to
"Firefox/3.6.8" and try again.

On 27/07/10 13:01, 98 Guy wrote:
Ed wrote:

MicroSith just "upgraded" their hotmail service, and instead of
giving me a one-time warning that my Firefox 2.0.20 is outdated
that I can say "ok" and not have to view again as long as I
don't clear cookies, it's now taking me to a screen and telling
me I need to upgrade my browser.
I too am running Firefox 2.0.0.20 ( without any tweaks or script/ad
blockers) but I never get any warnings to upgrade my browser when I
login to Hotmail.

Interesting.

With my user-agent set to Firefox/3.0.0.20, I also got the message about
having an unsupported browser when logging into "Windows Live" a few
minutes ago.

I changed my user-agent to say "Firefox/3.6.8" (the most current
version) and tried again, and this time it worked - no message about
having an old browser.

So I changed it back to "Firefox/3.0.0.20" - and it still worked. So
I'm not sure what's going on.

Anyone that can't log into Windows Live (I don't think you can actually
log into "Hotmail" any more) because of an "Outdated Browser" error, and
if you're using Firefox 2.x, then try changing your user-agent string to
"Firefox/3.6.8" and try again.

Me, I just login at www.hotmail.com and get no messages to update my
bog standard Firefox 2.0.0.20 browser.

No problems at all.

Strange eh?

Ed wrote:

Me, I just login at www.hotmail.com and get no messages to update
my bog standard Firefox 2.0.0.20 browser.

Are you sure that you're logging into "hotmail" ?

When I go to www.hotmail.com, I always get redirected to:

http://login.live.com/login.srf?(...)

Are you sure that you're not also being redirected to
something.live.com?

On 27/07/10 15:17, 98 Guy wrote:
Ed wrote:

Me, I just login at www.hotmail.com and get no messages to update
my bog standard Firefox 2.0.0.20 browser.

Are you sure that you're logging into "hotmail" ?

When I go to www.hotmail.com, I always get redirected to:

http://login.live.com/login.srf?(...)

Are you sure that you're not also being redirected to
something.live.com?


Yes, I am redirected as you say. But still no problems with prompt to
upgrade my browser.

I too am running Firefox 2.0.0.20 ( without any tweaks or script/ad
blockers) but I never get any warnings to upgrade my browser when I
login to Hotmail.

Interesting.

With my user-agent set to Firefox/3.0.0.20, I also got the message about
having an unsupported browser when logging into "Windows Live" a few
minutes ago.

I changed my user-agent to say "Firefox/3.6.8" (the most current
version) and tried again, and this time it worked - no message about
having an old browser.

So I changed it back to "Firefox/3.0.0.20" - and it still worked. So
I'm not sure what's going on.

Anyone that can't log into Windows Live (I don't think you can actually
log into "Hotmail" any more) because of an "Outdated Browser" error, and
if you're using Firefox 2.x, then try changing your user-agent string to
"Firefox/3.6.8" and try again.
----------------------------------

I am using FF 1.5.0.12, according to about:config. (I thought I was up
around 1.8.)
Reason I use outdated FF is because my download manager doesnt support 2 or
higher.(star)

Thing is too, I've never had a problem surfing using this version; if
anything, I am lucky in that I dont have to see a lot of crappy
advertising.. yippee.!

Ed

Eddie wrote:

I am using FF 1.5.0.12, according to about:config. (I thought I was
up around 1.8.)
Reason I use outdated FF is because my download manager doesnt
support 2 or higher.(star)

Why do you need a separate download manager?

Firefox 2.0.0.20 has it's own download manager.

Thing is too, I've never had a problem surfing using this version;
if anything, I am lucky in that I dont have to see a lot of crappy
advertising..

If you download this hosts file, then you would see little to no
advertizing:

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip

Download the hosts.zip file into your C:\WINDOWS directory and unzip
it. Answer yes to over-write your existing hosts file (this is assuming
you've made no custom entries in your existing file).

I notice that the MVP's have removed the line on the hosts.htm page
describing where the hosts file is normally located on win-9x/ME
systems. They must be running short on space on their server.

"98 Guy" wrote in message ...
snip
I notice that the MVP's have removed the line on the hosts.htm page
describing where the hosts file is normally located on win-9x/ME
systems. They must be running short on space on their server.

"the MVP's"? That site is the product of one person, who is solely
responsible for the content. It's not connected to any other MVPs...it
is hosted on the mvps.org server, which was set up by someone else to
make space available to any who needed it. Being on the mvps.org server
doesn't mean it is a MVP group website any more than being hosted by
GoDaddy makes a web site there a product of GoDaddy.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
A+
http://dts-l.net/

On 28/07/10 13:02, Eddie wrote:
I too am running Firefox 2.0.0.20 ( without any tweaks or script/ad
blockers) but I never get any warnings to upgrade my browser when I
login to Hotmail.
Interesting.

With my user-agent set to Firefox/3.0.0.20, I also got the message about
having an unsupported browser when logging into "Windows Live" a few
minutes ago.

I changed my user-agent to say "Firefox/3.6.8" (the most current
version) and tried again, and this time it worked - no message about
having an old browser.

So I changed it back to "Firefox/3.0.0.20" - and it still worked. So
I'm not sure what's going on.

Anyone that can't log into Windows Live (I don't think you can actually
log into "Hotmail" any more) because of an "Outdated Browser" error, and
if you're using Firefox 2.x, then try changing your user-agent string to
"Firefox/3.6.8" and try again.
----------------------------------

I am using FF 1.5.0.12, according to about:config. (I thought I was up
around 1.8.)
Reason I use outdated FF is because my download manager doesnt support 2 or
higher.(star)

Thing is too, I've never had a problem surfing using this version; if
anything, I am lucky in that I dont have to see a lot of crappy
advertising.. yippee.!

Ed



Why not try updating to Firefox 2.0.0.20 ?

you shouldn't have any problems with that.

Ed 2 Ed