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By William Stanek here, concluding a talk about a scripting/programming bug that was driving me absolutely bonkers. The code bug is this:
When you visit web sites and are using Internet Explorer 8 on 64-bit Windows 7, you are redirected to a web page optimized for mobile browsers - and mobile browser pages aren't exactly what I call user-friendly. Most mobile browser pages provide only summary information, which is nothing like what you actually are searching for.
Here were my original examples:
- Visit www.etrade.com and get redirected to wireless.etrade.com
- Visit www.intel.com and get redirected to m.intel.com
- Visit www.sony.com and get redirected to m.sony.com
I told readers: Good luck finding anything on these mobile sites... except for frustration. And added:
To be clear, the problem isn't with Internet Explorer 8 or Windows 7. The problem is with the programming/scripting code on the many sites having this problem. The JavaScript/Java Server Pages/Whatever code is interpreting the browser information incorrectly and as a result, the user is redirected to a mobile browser page instead of the normal page.
The original post is here. How many webmasters responded so far and took corrective action?
- Out of 25 sites I bookmarked: 22.
- Out of the 3 listed above: 3 (all are working).
My question is this: How can a bug like this have been overlooked by so many sites for so long? The problem existed throughout beta testing of Windows 7 and I was sure savvy webmasters would catch on. When Windows 7 released, I was sure of the same. Yet 3 months later--nothing. Nothing until now.
Hopefully a lesson learned: Test, test, test and then test some more when new browsers and operating systems are released. Key point: 64-bit platform testing is every bit as important as 32-bit platform testing.
Thanks for reading, time for me to get back to work! Hope you'll take a look at my new book Windows 7: The Definitive Guide. Also just released is my book Exchange Server 2010 Administrator's Pocket Consultant.
William R. Stanek
williamstanek at aol dot com
http://www.twitter.com/WilliamStanek
PS
Webmasters, I'd be pleased to hear from you. Email at the above.
FYI - as of 4/8/2010 those sites are still redirecting for me on IE8.
I am facing the same problem too with www.sony.com and IE8 on Win 7 64 bit. It just redirects to the mobile version. I flushed cache, deleted history. Would appreciate help if anyone knows how to resolve the issue.