Doesn't work with Internet Explorer 11
IE is a relic that shouldn't be used anymore. It's support stops in about 7 months (June 15, 2022). It's currently only supported for companies that still need some of it's specific features. MS is busy implementing backward compatibility into Edge. For private users there's no reason to stick to IE. It's impossible to support every single browser and IE is already replaced with Edge for private users. In other words: IE is no longer one of the main browsers that must be supported.
Unfortunately, @Keet, as an IT consultant, I can tell you that it will have to remain intact for years to come. There are too many sites - government, banking, security companies (even Tyco and ADT!) where their stuff doesn't work properly even in the various compatibility modes.
I even have a phone system that you can't properly edit it with anything but IE. People just don't want to throw away their old multi-thousand dollar systems because people such as yourself say "Get rid of it."
Apparently it's only on certain operating systems: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/internet-explorer-11-end-of-support.
MS intends to have a 'better' compatibility mode in Edge by then. Let's see how that's gonna work (ROFLMAO).
On the other hand, companies have had many years to get their stuff up to date. I have to give MS credit for how long they extend support on some of their software packages.
I have to give MS credit for how long they extend support on some of their software packages.
They do this for their own benefit. If systems stopped requiring IE, then there is no need for windows, many businesses would be able to move to linux.
They keep you locked in by exploiting your laziness and unwillingness to pay for the updates.
If systems stopped requiring IE, then there is no need for windows, many businesses would be able to move to linux.
That would not be true if those systems currently requiring IE move to requiring Edge.
One of the large issues is things like Silverlight - which Microsoft pushed heavily. They've since abandoned it - but many companies invested heavily in the language. Adobe Flash is similar. It's been abandoned because of security concerns, but that's the fault of Adobe, who took the Shockwave animation back end and made it do things that it was never intended to perform. Now, you can't even look at the old animations (unless you're like me and stored copies of the old Shockwave installers)
IE is a relic that shouldn't be used anymore.
There is a problem in that decades ago Microsoft talked many companies into incorporating their software into the control systems of commercial equipment, and have been upset by the requirement to continue to maintain that software to some extent because of that action.
Way back when, MS talked milling machine manufacturers and many others into using MS DOS as the controlling software for their computer controlled equipment. When MS declared they were going to stop all support of MS DOS they ran into a problem when all of those companies threatened to sue them trillions of dollars for the replacement cost of all of the manufacturing equipment using MS DOS. The MS management had not taken into account such equipment typically had a 50 to 75 year design life. The end result is while MS no long do upgrades for MS DOS they still have to make available floppy discs of MS DOS available for purchase for the repair and reprogramming of that equipment. The same is true for the many long life machinery that uses MSIE as its access system. I expect MS will set up a similar arrangement for that.
It was the MS DOS debacle that caused so many of the equipment manufacturers to seriously look at using Unix and Linux for their embedded systems in their equipment.
edit to fix typo
It was the MS DOS debacle that caused so many of the equipment manufacturers to seriously look at using Unix and Linux for their embedded systems in their equipment.
Maybe some some but an important reason was that neither MS DOS nor Windows is a real-time operating system, which is essential for some embedded systems. If a Linux distribution allows real time processing depends on the kernel. Many embedded systems nowadays are switching to ARM because of the lower energy consumption. Of course that is only true for embedded systems that need a 'real/full' operating system, most are just very stripped down systems with some custom code. Something not possible with proprietary code, another reason to step away from DOS/Windows.
It's not the ARM system itself. You can do the same with just about any processor. (including the dinky 8 pin microprocessors) It's the ability to have the entire operating system code available to your internal support team.
When you have the full support code, you can integrate a newer piece of hardware into your legacy structure relatively easily. Microsoft's always refused to let anyone, even the huge customers, have that ability, and they've also refused to do any custom modifications for anyone short of a government. Remember, many of these systems are still being built using serial port communications, not USB, not network, etc. Mostly because they don't need speed, but robustness and reliability. At least they aren't token ring.
+1 on this. (the whole post)
Chemical plants, manufacturing plants, and other industrial facilities can't justify replacing millions of dollars of equipment just because Microsoft says so. I've seen century old equipment come up on the market that was _just replaced_ from active service. The early CAD/CAM control systems, plus the monitoring systems, cost _so much money_ at the time that they may not have fully amortized over a twenty year period.
I've seen century old equipment come up on the market that was _just replaced_ from active service.
Century old? Really?
A Babbage machine is believable, little else is.
A Babbage machine is believable, little else is.
I took it as meaning Lathes, Milling Machines and the like (non-automated, or possibly mechanically automated) as they were certainly around before 1820. Maybe knitting machines and looms, as these had mechanical automation. Remember, the Jacquard Loom came into use in the early 19th century, well before Babbage got any of his Difference engine built, and he (Babbage) designed the Analytic engine to use Jacquard punched cards for control.
For an example, go look at the Post Apocalyptic Inventor on YouTube. Several of the lathes and mills he shows are a century old, converted from wind/water/pedal/whatever, to electric motor. Even the electric motors are often from the 20's.
Printing presses - many small printing presses, especially at educational institutions, have been in continuous use for a century as well. There's so little to go wrong.
There was a 70+ year old machine used for a specific tooling job at the foundry where my father worked as an engineer. They finally left it behind when moving the facility because of the cost of moving, but were never able to get another company to perform that tooling job in anything like the tolerances of that ancient machine.
back in the mid 1980s I worked in a manufacturing facility where they machined equipment for the Australian Army as well as general commercial items. Many of the machines used in the milling section were Cincinnati brand milling machines with manufacture dates from 1899 to 1903 on their manufacture details plates. Recently I saw a news article of that same facility and many of those same machines were still in use.
The company never saw the need to replace something that did the job perfectly and just as fast and as well as a brand new machine. While I'm sure they've replaced any that broke down with serious issues, I'm also sure they're still using the ones that still do the job they were designed for.
That same facility also had a few computer controlled multi-angle milling machines that were only a few years old when I worked there, and that same news article showed them still in place and being used. I know that they used MS DOS and I'm sure they still do as the old computers that were built into the machines were difficult to program and I doubt they've had serious computer upgrades since then.
If it "shouldn't be used anymore", then new browsers that "should", need to provide a full replacement for all features.
While I don't use IE as is, I use MyIE2 based on an old version of IE (I'd guess about IE6, but I might be mistaken). Why? Because it's the ONLY browser that I know of that has "groups" feature. Even it's own "update" by the new name Maxthon lacks groups.
So I'll complain too: doesn't work in MyIE2. And I don't want to migrate to Chrome or Firefox because MyIE2 is more convenient for reading.
Because it's the ONLY browser that I know of that has "groups" feature.
What do you mean with this "groups" thing? If it's grouping bookmarks then just about any browser can do that. I also don't see why your browser would be "more convenient" for reading. For example FireFox has options for a side bar with bookmarks, can go full screen (shows only the page), and a 'reader view'. Most other browsers offer the same or similar.
So I'm sincerely interested in why those modern browsers can't replace yours.
"Group" is a list of tabs. You can save current window as a group, close the window, and then later open that group, which re-opens all tabs that were in your window.
Edit: I don't like bookmarks, they're way less convenient for reading than groups (for example there's no option to update bookmark when I advance to different chapter). Fullscreen mode is everywhere, even old IE have it, just press F11, not that it matters to me as I don't even maximize my windows most of the time.
"Group" is a list of tabs. You can save current window as a group, close the window, and then later open that group, which re-opens all tabs that were in your window.
I don't know about other browsers but FireFox can do something similar: Right click on the bar with tabs and select "Bookmark all tabs". This gives you a dialog in which you can give that set of tabs a name and select where you want it to show ('Bookmarks Menu', 'Bookmarks Toolbar', 'Other Bookmarks', 'Choose'). Lets say you saved all open tabs on the 'Bookmark Toolbar' with the name "set of tabs". This shows of course on the bookmarks toolbar. You can click the arrow next to the name and either select one of the previously saved tabs or choose "Open all". It doesn't refresh chapters on a bookmark but I doubt your browser does that other than you save the page again and overwrite the previous one. It's easy to right click your previous "set of tabs" and delete it and then save all current tabs again. You can even save several different sets of tabs with different names.
As I said, probably not exactly the same but it gives you an alternative to think about that allows you to upgrade to a safer browser.
Take a look at the opera fork vivaldi.
It's a chromium browser which allows you to have groups of tabs.
These groups can even be given a name.
Vivaldi can be used as a portable browser. So you could try it and if it suits you you could use it as a replacement for MyIE2.
If it "shouldn't be used anymore", then new browsers that "should", need to provide a full replacement for all features.
And there is the problem.
Many of the features of IE have been depreciated because they make it susceptible to many relatively easy hacks.
And like with DOS, some of it's features were actually bugs, that programmers used instead of actually following the HTML guidelines.
Because it's the ONLY browser that I know of that has "groups" feature.
What do you mean by groups?
Edge supports Tab groups, as does Chrome which it is based on, as does Firefox.
I'm talking about UI, not js or other site-accessible "features". More than that, I'd like to remove some "features" from current browsers, such as an ability to get any info from outside browser viewport (yes, even external browser window size, let alone display resolution or battery charge level).
Groups in Chrome is an entirely different feature. They are for grouping currently opened tabs. Groups in MyIE2 are for saving lists of tabs for future re-opening.
They are for grouping currently opened tabs. Groups in MyIE2 are for saving lists of tabs for future re-opening.
Ah, yeah.
That's the whole point of the Group function. When you restart your browser, you click on the tab group, and they are all loaded up.
Only if your Chrome tab group was open at the time you closed your browser. MyIE2 groups are saved independent of currently opened tabs - you could re-open it even a year later, or on different computer.
MyIE2 groups are saved independent of currently opened tabs - you could re-open it even a year later, or on different computer.
Edge also supports syncing across devices.
But i personally don't like giving that sort of access to my information to service providers. Which is why i don't have a Google account, or a Microsoft account, or a Facebook account, or an Apple account (yet- the way things are going i'll need at least one of them in the not so distant future to be able to do anything with most businesses & government departments).
Basically you've got something you're used to and comfortable with and just don't want the hassle of moving to something different and getting it setup the way you want.
Groups in MyIE2 are not synced, they're just files in a folder. You can copy them to another computer or even edit in a text editor.
Groups in MyIE2 are not synced, they're just files in a folder. You can copy them to another computer or even edit in a text editor.
If I understand you correctly MyIE2 does something like "Save page as" but for every open tab. The next time you open them you open the locally stored copies. If that is what it does there's an extension for FireFox (might be available for other browsers too) that does exactly that: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/save-page-we/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search
You can even select which of the open tabs to store if you want to.