Nelson County, Virginia
If you have been a regular visitor of our NCL website for any length of time, you know by now we are not the biggest fans of Microsoft Windows. The list of why is way too long to go into here. It’s why we have been an all MAC shop for over a decade. You just don’t have the issues found in Windows. But we are realists, and know it’s the majority operating system and most people have MS machines currently, though that is changing. When you buy that machine, you get the default Internet Explorer web browser. With regular updates to the OS software you can view and surf any website with no problem.
In the past few days some readers of this site report funny looking displays when viewing on IE browsers. Not many, only a hand full, but some people do. This is caused from the users not keeping their OS updates current. Our site uses all kinds coding and software products to make all of the displays work. For example, Flash is just one of many. If you don’t have that update or plugin on your computer, you won’t see some of the features on our site. Or they won’t display properly. It’s not just the case here, but on countless sites across the web.
If you like using IE to browse the internet, then be sure to keep it and your operating system updated. It’s the safe thing to do as well, since your security updates from Microsoft come down in those updates too. That keeps your computer from being totally vulnerable.
For the best browsing experience on our site and thousands of others, we suggest Firefox browser from Mozilla. Whether you use Windows or MAC, it’s by far a superior browser to the standard ones as part of either OS. There are many other good ones too, but that’s one we know works the best on our site.
Again, if you insist on using the MS IE browser, be sure it’s up to date or you won’t see things correctly in your browser, not only here, but on countless sites across the web.
-T-
Tommy,
Thanks for the recommendation. We certainly try very hard to make the best browser possible.
One thing that new users of Firefox on Windows will need to do is install new versions of their plugins since the ActiveX versions which work in Internet Explorer won’t work with Firefox. People may find this page helpful:
http://support.mozilla.com/en-us/kb/Popular+plugins
Everyone should always make sure that their plugins are up to date whenever they perform their Operating System security updates which for Windows happen on the second Tuesday of each month. Firefox users will be prompted to install security updates every 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately, plugins are not automatically updated and people will need to check for updates manually. Out of date Flash or Java installations are a major cause of security problems and people should consider keeping them up to date as important as keeping their Operating System or browser up to date.
Bob
I have had problems with the Vista version and web sites. My problems are not particularily funny. A web page wil have sections where one article or line is printed on top of another, making it very hard to read. Has any one else have this problem?
Wilfred, I’m seeing that same problem where the blue text overwrites on the page when I use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser. With the Firefox browser, I don’t have that problem. You can follow the link Tommy provided to download the Firefox web browser.
Tommy, I enjoy keeping up with what’s going on in Nelson County and think you do a great job of providing information and entertainment, but I think you ought to consider your full audience. I encounter very, very few websites that don’t work just fine with MS IE. While switching browsers is trivial for some of us, for others it is not so easy to download the browser, import bookmarks, and customize it as they might have done once, with help, and have no idea how to do again. Plus, as you know all too well, some in the county are still on dial-up and downloading anything is a chore. And I think there’s a segment of your readership that simply won’t understand your post and the first response, even though both were very well written technically.
My suggestion is to consider simplifying the pages to work better with older browsers.
Otherwise, keep up the great work!
Bob
Hey Bob,
Thanks for the nice remarks and the input! We greatly appreciate it!
Though the concept of making pages more simple sounds good at first glance, our input from readers, advertisers, and the like, tell us they like the added features. Though many people don’t know how to do updates, activate features like Active X, etc. It’s something, as you know, is very important to do. The 3 or 4 cases we have had reported to us a have essentially been the operators having never updated their software, some on purpose. One user even told us he never updates his software because it bogs down his computer and is simply too much trouble. Obviously we both know why that’s a bad policy and will ultimately lead to a security failure, but some folks just won’t do it regardless.
The only complains we have received are on IE. While you are right Bob that IE will work if installed correctly and updated properly, Our personal and professional experience show it to sometimes be a problem browser for many applications and sites across the web, In this case, it’s a personal preference on the browser, but we again have found those who try Firefox, never go back because Mozilla has done a far superior job of making a browser that’s more secure and versatile. Plus it makes transferring bookmarks seamless, etc.
And just for the record, we have nothing to do with Mozilla other than just being a user. (We get none of their ad dollars, but that should would be nice!)
And right again Bob, dial up users won’t be able to enjoy this site easily, and unfortunately with all of the multimedia applications we must use, that won’t improve. There is hope for many of them though as BPL and 3G services become more widely available.
Thanks again for the input and great remarks, and thank you very, very much for reading out site!
Tommy