Mac browser locked out of MySpace

[arogge]

There used to be Websites that refused to work without Microsoft Internet Explorer, and some services are still like that. I'm hitting Websites lately that claim to only work with the latest Firefox or MSIE browsers, but they let you ignore the error at the "risk" that some features may not work.

I got a surprise today when I tried to access MySpace.com and was told that my browser wasn't "modern" enough and that I needed to download Firefox. I don't want to download Firefox. I want to use the browser that I want to use. MySpace obviously doesn't like that. There's only one choice: "To get the best experience out of MySpace, please upgrade at this time." If I don't want the "best" experience, there is no option to ignore the "incompatibility" error. If I lie by using an MSIE identifier, MySpace lets me in and there don't appear to be any of these alleged incompatibilities with my "obsolete" browser.

I have also noticed that browsers that are based on Mozilla aren't being accepted by some of these browser-specific Websites. Firefox is accepted, but other Mozilla clones aren't. They're all Mozilla, but the stupid Web developers put lockout code into their pages that refuse to work unless your browser says "Firefox" or "MSIE".

 

[Cabbit]

Wooohooo !!!!

 

[Detrius]

Wow. This is really interesting and choc full of information.

Oh, wait. WHAT BROWSER?? Safari 4.0.4 is working fine for me, so maybe you really DO have an ancient browser that isn't particularly standards compliant.

 

[arogge]

Oh, wait. WHAT BROWSER??

Which browser I'm using isn't really relevant because I'm not asking for tech support. I'm simply pointing out that some stupid Web developers don't understand that there are other browsers besides the ones that they decide are compatible with their Websites. In this example of MySpace.com, the site doesn't work any differently than it did last week, once I lie about which browser I'm using. The only apparent change has been that somebody decided that only a few browsers would be allowed to use the Website. Pushing Firefox is no different than pushing MSIE. It's a shortsighted way of doing Web development, and there's no legitimate reason for it. Web developers should stay out of the way and let the user decide which browser works best for them.

 

[angelwatt]

They're just doing their part to encourage people to upgrade their browser so they are less likely to have problems and security issues. It's also frustrating trying to accommodate older browsers while trying to give users with modern browsers a modern experience. I'm starting to remove IE6 support my web site as I want to abolish it from the world. It's my right to do so, though there are some sites that legally cannot.

 

[Cabbit]

Sadly i went an tried this, works Myspace works fine on Firefox 3.5.5 and Safari 4.0.4. No messages of this type appeared.

 

[daflake]

Which browser I'm using isn't really relevant because I'm not asking for tech support. I'm simply pointing out that some stupid Web developers don't understand that there are other browsers besides the ones that they decide are compatible with their Websites. In this example of MySpace.com, the site doesn't work any differently than it did last week, once I lie about which browser I'm using. The only apparent change has been that somebody decided that only a few browsers would be allowed to use the Website. Pushing Firefox is no different than pushing MSIE. It's a shortsighted way of doing Web development, and there's no legitimate reason for it. Web developers should stay out of the way and let the user decide which browser works best for them.

As another said, you clearly don't understand how difficult it is to program new features into a WEB site and still support older browsers. In some cases you are forced to make a choice in which you, as a programmer, will support. Sorry to say, it will always be the updated browser over the older one, especially on sites like Facebook and MySpace where they have to consider security.

 

[Nermal]

As another said, you clearly don't understand how difficult it is to program new features into a WEB site and still support older browsers.

The OP said that changing the user agent to IE fixed it. Therefore there's no technical reason to block the browser. More to the point, I firmly believe that there should always be a "continue anyway" button.

I only maintain one real site (plus an intranet), but I don't do any sort of browser restriction. I "support" (read: test in) IE 6, 7, 8, Firefox 2, 3, 3.5, Safari 3, 4, Opera 9, 10. However, if you're using a different browser, I don't kick you out; I feed you the same code as everyone else and if your browser can handle it then you'll get the same experience as on a tested browser.

 

[Detrius]

Which browser I'm using isn't really relevant

It's relevant because we don't know if you're using a browser engine that's five years old. Also, your claim that it works fine doesn't mean that *everything* works fine. There's always the possibility that they ran into problems with your browser in some area that you aren't using and decided they would rather drop support for the browser than make it work.

 

[arogge]

It's relevant because we don't know if you're using a browser engine that's five years old. Also, your claim that it works fine doesn't mean that *everything* works fine.

It isn't an old browser. If the site works fine for me and does what it did before, it works fine. I don't care about some obscure feature that I never use. The point is that just because my browser name isn't one of the common browser names, that doesn't mean it's bad or much different than any other browser.

Even better, I just tried accessing MySpace.com with a 2005 version of Safari, and wasn't locked out, nor did I notice any other problems. This tells me that MySpace doesn't know what it's talking about. This lockout attempt has nothing to do with having a modern browser to support new Web development methods, and perhaps has everything to do with making sure that people only use a handful of browsers.

 

[angelwatt]

Maybe you should try contacting MySpace to get their perspective. Maybe it's an issue they aren't aware of or is only affecting you for some reason. Whining to us won't get you anywhere. I don't even understand why people go to MySpace.

 

[Cabbit]

It isn't an old browser. If the site works fine for me and does what it did before, it works fine. I don't care about some obscure feature that I never use. The point is that just because my browser name isn't one of the common browser names, that doesn't mean it's bad or much different than any other browser.

Even better, I just tried accessing MySpace.com with a 2005 version of Safari, and wasn't locked out, nor did I notice any other problems. This tells me that MySpace doesn't know what it's talking about. This lockout attempt has nothing to do with having a modern browser to support new Web development methods, and perhaps has everything to do with making sure that people only use a handful of browsers.

What browser is it, name and version?

 

[arogge]

What browser is it, name and version?

I'm using Camino 1.6. I don't get locked out with Camino 2 or the latest version of Flock, but MySpace doesn't like the Camino 1.6 identifier.

Why don't I use Camino 2? Because the system that I use most often has been excluded from running the latest versions of Mozilla, because it doesn't have OS X 10.4.11. The other reason is because what I have is working fine. It's fast, it doesn't crash, I like the interface, and it does what I want.

Why don't I install OS X 10.4.11? Because what I have is working fine. Wait, I did try... it was a mess. For some reason, Apple removed something important that was in the 10.2 and 10.3 releases, so that when I went to install 10.4, I was locked out of my storage controller. Then I couldn't even reboot because the system went looking for the DVD, and, finding no bootable OS because I had ejected the install DVD, it froze. I had to cold boot and let the system recover to reset the boot drive, once again showing me why if it ain't broken, I shouldn't try to fix it.


I'm going to submit a problem report about this browser issue to MySpace. Meanwhile, I can always use my 2005 version of Safari, which seems to have no problems with MySpace and its "modern" coding, at least as far as I notice.

 

[Cabbit]

You have no valid complaint to make.
Your using a antiquated browser so you will be treated the same as users of IE6 and IE7.
While the pages may still render Myspace has chosen not to support version 1.6 of your browser and is concentrating on newer browsers. The reasons you give for not wanting to upgrade is the same reasons why developers have to suffer IE6.
As for the Safari support it is most likely because they have targeted that version of Webkit but have targeted a later version of Gecko due to compatibility or because there user statistics tell them their Gecko users are on the latest version as Firefox users tend to have the latest version auto updated.

 

[arogge]

You have no valid complaint to make.

How about if I just lie and keep using whichever browser I want? That's the easiest thing to do. It is weird that I can use older versions of Mozilla, on which Camino is based, and they're not locked out.

The complaint, of course, is about more than MySpace. This isn't the only time I've had this problem, and as more and more Web developers keep pushing some browsers away, I feel like I'm back to lying about my using Opera on sites that only wanted MSIE.

There isn't supposed to be any requirement to have one browser over another. Pages should all work the same way, at least as far as the main presentation of information is concerned. Websites aren't supposed to support any browser. The browser is supposed to support the Website, and all Websites should be readable. If they aren't readable to the user's satisfaction, it should be the user's choice to notice this problem and switch to a different browser or adjust its settings. The user shouldn't be locked out by a browser detection script.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

You have no valid complaint to make.
Your using a antiquated browser so you will be treated the same as users of IE6 and IE7.
While the pages may still render Myspace has chosen not to support version 1.6 of your browser and is concentrating on newer browsers. The reasons you give for not wanting to upgrade is the same reasons why developers have to suffer IE6.
As for the Safari support it is most likely because they have targeted that version of Webkit but have targeted a later version of Gecko due to compatibility or because there user statistics tell them their Gecko users are on the latest version as Firefox users tend to have the latest version auto updated.

No. He has an entirely valid point. Web Developers lock out users for no good reason, other than to push new browsers on them. I will accept a warning that says something to the effect of, "hey your browser is pretty outdated, certain features: A, B, C, and D will not work. Please upgrade your Browser. Okay to continue? Yes/No?" However, arbitrarily locking out users is ridiculous.