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Big surprise, you can't use Firefox

I went to renew my Microsoft Partner Program membership today before it runs out at the end of the month. For a few hundred bucks I get 10 copies of XP and Office to use around the house - there are other benefits, but that alone makes me renew each year.

This year, something is different. I'm now using FF as my default browser...

So when I click the renew link, I get a message saying that the LiveID that I'm signed in with doesn't match my Partner account. Hmmm. So I try a few other combinations (but I only have one LiveID account, so kinda fruitless). Finally I get a page that says I should contact MSFT. I click the link, it says that I am using an unsupported browser for that page. Seriously, in 2008 we have to still play these games??

So, I open IE7 (see, it does have some use) and click the renew link as a quick way to get to the right part of the site - fully expecting to still have to contact support.

Guess what? Yeah. I *knew* you'd guess..

Mike knows the answer, don't you Mike?

It said, "Hello James, thanks for renewing..etc, etc". No problems with my LiveID at all.

Funny that. Zip it!



Posted: Friday, January 25, 2008 4:50 PM by James

Comments

Michael K. Campbell said:

Yeah, I don't even know where to start with that one. I mean, for starters, if I click on that link, I'm immediately told that the certificate is invalid. Which, of course, is because MS figures that if so many people use their OS, they can just sign their own damned certs. Pretty arrogant if you ask me. (i.e. they're their own certificate authority at the OS level, but firefox doesn't use the underlying OS's certificates - it only trusts 'reputable third party' certs (and then we're back full circle with MS thinking they're as good as verisign, thawte, and so on - since, hell, they tell your OS that those are trusted parties, right?)) Then, yeah, mind boggling that FF has a sizeable chunk of the browser market these days, yet so many MS properties refuse to even acknowledge that it exists. (And don't get me started with the fact that they DO think that IE6 is a 'real' browser *grin*) I mean, to my knowledge, i don't think i've ever spelled MS with a $ instead of an S, so it's not like i make a religion out of hating MS. In fact, MS really helps pay the mortgage around here - a lot. What's amazing, though, is that all these years later and they still haven't 'gotten' the web. And don't EVEN get me started on how lame passport is. But thanks James - thanks for getting me going. Now I look like some sort of nut-job/crank. ;)
# January 25, 2008 11:25 PM

Dave Burke said:

Thanks for posting this, James. Personally I don't have a problem with the IE requirement, but thanks to your post I'll be sure to set my default browser to IE before I renew my Microsoft Partner Program membership. You're right, it's really a good value.
# January 26, 2008 1:47 PM
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