Google apps declares no support for IE6

Google apps is removing support for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) and optimizing their products for the future in favor of newer browsers with faster javascript engines and support for newer advanced features. With such a big company pushing out the old time browser, hopefully it can be enough to get the ball rolling to put it out of production for good. Developers and designers have long been awaiting the demise of IE6 as it is very old and as new browsers support more features and move closer towards web standards developers and designers are having to create separate style sheets and unnecessary programming to keep their websites usable in IE6.  Even Microsoft wants to get rid of IE6 and remove it from our everyday lives. However, it seems as though they are going to support it until the end of support for Microsoft’s Windows XP SP3 scheduled some time in 2014. Anyhow, statistics show there are still quite a few websites using IE6 and Clear Graphix will support it for as long as our customers need us to. Even with only a few percent of users using IE6, a busy E-commerce site could potentially lose out on a large sum of money in making any decision to stop supporting the browser or any browser for that matter.

Microsoft Windows 7 Boot Splash Screen

We recently moved some of the operating systems on our workstations to Windows 7 64-Bit. As usual a clean install is always recommended. With years of IT experience dating back to pre-windows world I have rarely seen an upgrade go clean if the upgraded machine has been heavily used. So, anyway we thought we would shout out a couple of items that seem rudimentary but, were nevertheless roadblocks to stop an otherwise happy end-user from moving on with their daily routine and experiencing Microsoft Windows 7 the way it should be.

Finally, Microsoft did it right in terms of User Interface and Performance. They finally re-wrote the Explorer from the ground up… getting rid of a lot of annoying bugs that have plagued the Operating System for years such as menu’s getting stuck, the auto-hide feature not always auto-hiding the start bar, etc… After running it now since it’s release in October, we have not had a single blue screeen of death and we have not had to restart it unless it was for an update or hardware install. Backwards compatibility with 32-bit applications has been non-existent thus far as Win 7 allows you to install programs in different compatibility modes including XP. Vista had issues with slow downs when viewing shared folders on the network that made it almost unusable. We’ve had a completely new experience with Win 7. We highly recommend the new Windows 7 Operating System.

Now onto the random issues of getting a good install. We have high-end workstations with somewhat complicated setups including multiple raid configurations within a single machine, SLI, Dual Monitors, Bluetooth devices, etc… There were only a couple of issues but, they were there and we want to get rid of the hassles for anyone else.

First off if you’re having audio issues such as popping, noise on the line etc… If your machine is using RealTek Audio which is quite popular as a generic interface for sound. Use the older version for Vista 32/64.

When installing to a system with Raided drives DISCONNECT ALL OTHER PHYSICAL DRIVES aside from the physical drives that create the logical drive for boot. It’s strange but, the Windows 7 setup will sometimes see the drives and/or show you that one is there but, when you try to go to install it to that drive it will give a system error message saying it can’t find a logical drive. Again, DISCONNECT ALL OTHER PHYSICAL DRIVES aside from the physical drives that create the logical drive for boot. The behavior of the setup and what you see in the BIOS would lead you to believe otherwise so, just try it.

The final issue that we had was with multi-monitor setups. If you turn on your system for the first time with multiple monitors and open some applications then, close the windows, make changes to the layout of your monitors within the display preferences, application windows can get stuck off screen. The only way we could figure out how to get those windows back to their proper spots was to go to the open window’s icon in the start bar and while the application is open hover over the icon which will bring up preview thumbs. Right click on the preview thumb for the stuck window and click maximize. That should maximize the window to your primary screen. The last step is to left click on the title bar and drag it from the top of the screen down. This should unsnap the window from fullscreen. Close the application and not just the window so, it remembers where it was before. When you restart the application, it should now show up where it’s suppose to… in plain sight.

Most of you will have new machines with Windows 7 pre-installed however, we hope these couple of tips help the few of you that are starting from the ground up. Microsoft Windows 7 was a breath of fresh air to start using. We’re very excited to see what great things developers come up with to make it even better!

BV Commerce Ripped by AliCommerce

According to BV Commerce, AliCommerce is an almost verbatim rip off of BV Commerce. AliCommerce has since went offline. We thought it would be a good idea to help spread the word as we too are developers and obviously look down on this type of behavior. There is an unspoken trust amongst developers as we have a lot of responsibility with access to highly sensitive data and when something like this happens, it not only hurts our relationships on a developer to developer basis but, it is also biting the hand that feeds us. If developers can’t trust each other, then how can we expect our clients to trust us. We frequently have to work together and trust one another to get problems solved in a very fast paced environment so, it is imperative that we keep that unspoken code of trust at the forefront of our daily routine.

To clients and others alike, don’t be afraid to ask for client references and other proof of good business practices… demand them. You can never be too sure with who you’re dealing with. Do the research and be cautious of development farms that outsource their work to shady overseas vendors. Know who you’re doing business with. It will make for a much better experience and a solid return on investment.

If you have bought AliCommerce and need any help looking for another ecommerce solution feel free to give us a call at 720.280.7477 or email us through xmail at cleargraphix.com. We have plenty of experience with DNN (DotNetNuke) and the various available shopping cart solutions that integrate with DotNetNuke and other ASP.NET solutions.

Read more about this issue at the BV Commerce site or in the DNN Forums.

Facebook Payment Tab And Gateway Screenshot

So, it looks like Facebook is finally adding payment gateways to it’s business model. Some accounts will see the new payment tab via their account settings where you can associate bank accounts and credit cards to your Facebook account while others will see nothing until the feature is in full swing. We were all waiting for it and now they are finally getting around to it. Essentially, a user will be able to buy real physical items along with the virtual items in the gift shop. Sounds like a perfect opportunity to implement an auction feature like Ebay and a classified section like Craigslist. This could be the moment social networks finally capitalize on the market and start making some serious cash.