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New versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox not yet recommended for ANGEL

Tue, 2011-05-24 08:08 — Mary Janzen

ANGEL users should be aware that the recently released Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4 web browsers are not yet fully supported for use with ANGEL by Blackboard, the parent company of ANGEL. Users should continue to use Internet Explorer 7 or 8 or Firefox 3, as described in the "Recommended Browsers and Computers" topic in the ANGEL Help and Information Guide: http://kb.its.psu.edu/cms/article/6.

Blackboard is committed to supporting the Internet Explorer and Firefox updates as soon as possible, while ensuring through testing that they are compatible with the full range of ANGEL features. ANGEL support regrets any inconvenience this browser compatibility issue causes to users and will post an update when the issue is resolved.

For any questions, e-mail angelsupport@psu.edu.

Comments

Wed, 2011-05-25 13:50 — mjw12

IE 9 and Firefox 4

For what it's worth, I've been accessing ANGEL with both IE 9 and Firefox 4 for the past couple of months without any apparent issues.

Thu, 2011-05-26 10:04 — dmp290

Issues

also not having problems with IE9 or FF4. what are the known issues?

Thu, 2011-05-26 10:56 — dmp290

from ITS Helpdesk We are

from ITS Helpdesk

We are testing Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4. However, they are currently not supported. There are mail issues reported when using IE9. Firefox 4 on a MAC are seeing issues with Angel shutdown messages outside the 4am to 6am maintenance window timeframe. Of course there are others but since testing is still going on, we recommend that you use either IE8 or Firefox 3.

Unfortunately, as you have seen, Firefox 4 is not officially supported by ANGEL - to run a supported browser (if you wish to continue using Firefox 4), it may be best to make sure that you have IE 8 installed on your computer (which you could use only for ANGEL purposes), which can be downloaded, here:

Sun, 2011-05-29 09:52 — law299

Firefox 4 challenges - MacBook Users

I am a MacBook Pro user and I prior to knowing about the ANGEL issue with the Firefox 4.0 upgrade I had already been using it. I experienced a lot of difficulties with ANGEL shut downs and very slow page loading, being timed out, hangs and so on. If you are having the same challenges, try going back to a previous version of Firefox to see if that helps. To revert to the previous secure version which is 3.6.17, you can do the following:

Go to Download Firefox v3.6.17 and download it to the desktop.

Then go to Add/Remove Programs, scroll down to "Mozilla Firefox" and remove it, choosing to keep your bookmarks, customizations etc., (don't checkmark the box).

Then reboot and delete the folder called "Mozilla Firefox" at this location:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox

Finally run the installation file you downloaded to the desktop earlier.

Your bookmarks, customizations etc., are maintained in a different location and will become available to you again once you complete the installation.

After you complete the installation, go to the Plugins Check page and update where necessary.

Tue, 2011-05-31 12:18 — srl183

Using IE8 Rendering Engine in IE9

You can use the IE8 rendering engine in IE9 by using the developer tools (F12) and selecting the IE8 Browser Mode.

Wed, 2011-06-01 11:44 — swm166

Or simply use compatibility mode.

Click the icon that looks like a torn page in the right-hand side of the address bar.

Sun, 2011-06-05 20:59 — tng5020

Google Chrome?

Are there any plans for ANGEL to support Google Chrome? It seems to have no technical flaws, while I have run into some flaws with ANGEL using IE.

Tue, 2011-06-07 14:36 — glg6

Support for Safari and Chrome

It is ridiculous that ANGEL continues to lack support for either Safari or Chrome. Is anyone even working on this or do we need to install old versions of browsers just to access ANGEL?

Mon, 2011-06-13 01:57 — cnn104

Chrome Support

For real, I LOVE having to keep another browser installed just so I can send email out on ANGEL. How much money is Penn State pumping into blackboard? Probably in the amount of time it takes blackboard to code the stupid pop-ups warning us that our browser is more current than 2007, they could fix most of their coding hacks that don't render properly.

Tue, 2011-06-21 16:05 — jjo135

Firefox 5 Release

They might want to pick up the pace, Firefox 5 just came out today, so that puts Angel two versions behind.

Firefox 6 is already in beta, and it is possible that we could see Firefox 7 before the end of the calendar year, putting us even further behind.

Mon, 2011-07-04 19:20 — dce124

volume.high != upgrade.quickly

You would think that considering the high volume of users of ANGEL, specifically every single Penn State student and faculty member (they should be using it), that this system would have the resources dedicated to using current browsers, especially considering the rapid-release of web browsers. Sometimes it is annoying to keep a separate older browser just for ANGEL. Although I still prefer Firefox 3.6 for web development, I use many different machines with different operating systems and only develop on or two, leaving me to have antique browsers installed on non-development machines.

Sun, 2011-07-17 11:56 — crp5151

browser updates

I just wanted to add to what others are saying about browser compatibility issues. Mozilla is upgrading very quickly. We pay a lot for tuition to attend the World Campus at PSU. We should not have to worry about the technology being updated in order to do our work at PSU without experiencing difficulties with other programs on our computer because of PSU not keeping up. My e-mail, Office Live, does not work correctly since I had to downgrade my Mozilla Firefox back to version 3. Please commit greater resources to the cause of keeping compatibility a non-issue. We are paying a great deal to do our courses and the technology should be there for us without adding on such great headaches! Thanks.

Thu, 2011-08-04 15:44 — j5j

BigFix?

BigFix is a program used by our IT staff to execute mass updates to common programs running on campus computers, including the Firefox and IE programs that run on faculty laptops. The IT email explaining BigFix said:

"You will have 2 choices when the BigFix window appears. You can 'Take Action' which will install the update. You may also 'Snooze' the update. You can snooze the update for up to 24 hours. After 24 hours the BigFix window will stay on your screen until you click the 'Take Action' button."

So, I hope that all of the IT staff who are using BigFix knew not to update Firefox past 3 or IE past 8. As an end user, I apparently cannot permanently stop BigFix from updating my faculty laptop.

Whoops, too late! To be honest, I don't remember whether BigFix prompted me to update Firefox when 4 was released or if I just did it myself. But I will be darned if I am going to downgrade from 4 to 3 just for the sake of ANGEL, especially when version 5 is available. I am also puzzled why Chrome is not supported.

Thu, 2012-03-01 00:42 — vub122

It's February 2012 Where are we now with the Firefox issue?

I wish someone would explain the issue in detail. I want to run the latest version of Firefox. Running the dinosaur version leaves all of us vulnerable. Blackboard's website is one of the best I have ever seen. No stone unturned. Mozilla Firefox too. I'm not buying this somehow.