Get Ready - Forum Upgrade Imminent! Pictures included..

[+batari]

One request I have is that the batari Basic forum should be moved up at least one level.

 

The bB forum is buried pretty deep now ( AtariAge Forums > Game Programming > Programming > Atari 2600 Programming > batari Basic) but it has more posts and topics than any other in the programming subforum. At the very least, I think it should have a link on the main forum index in the Game Programming section.

 

The bB forum alone has 855 topics and nearly 10,000 posts, and that represents about 65% of the Atari 2600 Programming subforum and about 40% of the Programming forum, despite being about half as old. It also has more topics than Homebrew Discussion and nearly as many topics and posts as the Hacks section.

[Albert]

Thanks Al. I guess if it looks too hideous I may have to consider upgrading. I guess I'm just a retro guy all-around!

It's not as hideous as I thought it would be and it does appear to work (I did successfully make a post using IE6), but it's not ideal. If you have a computer that can run a newer browser, I can't imagine why you'd stay with IE6 given all its problems.

 

..Al

[Albert]

One request I have is that the batari Basic forum should be moved up at least one level.

 

The bB forum is buried pretty deep now ( AtariAge Forums > Game Programming > Programming > Atari 2600 Programming > batari Basic) but it has more posts and topics than any other in the programming subforum. At the very least, I think it should have a link on the main forum index in the Game Programming section.

 

The bB forum alone has 855 topics and nearly 10,000 posts, and that represents about 65% of the Atari 2600 Programming subforum and about 40% of the Programming forum, despite being about half as old. It also has more topics than Homebrew Discussion and nearly as many topics and posts as the Hacks section.

Yeah, I agree and I can move it up.

 

..Al

[Devin]

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

 

Download Firefox! Firefox is the number one browser in the World right now. Google Chrome is a rising star as well - although not quite yet up to the market share as Firefox.

 

IE6 has about 14.4% of the market.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Devin

[Albert]

Interesting to see how much market share Chrome has right now. It'll be nice when it's available for OS X. It's pretty amazing that Firefox has unseated Internet Explorer as the most widely used browser. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of "other" in the above chart, as well as a breakdown of the various Internet Explorer versions.

 

..Al

[Devin]

Interesting to see how much market share Chrome has right now. It'll be nice when it's available for OS X. It's pretty amazing that Firefox has unseated Internet Explorer as the most widely used browser. Would be interesting to see a breakdown of "other" in the above chart, as well as a breakdown of the various Internet Explorer versions.

 

..Al

 

I am too. I suspect it is made of Opera and some of the other browsers. One of the neat statistics you can get from browser usage is an approximate platform market share. This is quite different from the installed base, since not all computers are used with browsers.

 

Anyway, Macintosh is doing much better and has jumped up to 6% of the market. This is exceptional. Before Jobs returned, Apple has dropped below 1%. They have been rising every month.

[+batari]

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

 

Download Firefox! Firefox is the number one browser in the World right now. Google Chrome is a rising star as well - although not quite yet up to the market share as Firefox.

 

IE6 has about 14.4% of the market.

I remember when people said that virus writers only targeted IE since it was more common and not because it has tons of security flaws. So why aren't we seeing more Firefox exploits than IE? My guess is because it's actually more secure.

[shadow460]

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

You're more than welcome to try, but I bet it's going to look asstastical.

 

http://atariage.org/narn/forums/

 

IE6 is ancient. IE6 is a huge security hole on your computer. IE6 is not even close to supporting current web standards. Please at least try Firefox, Opera, Safari, or something else a bit more modern.

 

..Al

 

Aw man! I was hoping to surf the new site with PlanetWeb 2.0 on my Saturn.

 

Actually, I do still have one computer on IE6, but that's 'cause I've been too lazy to put Firefox 2.whatever on it after the last full format/restore.

 

Speaking of browser, has anyone tried the new forum on the PSP native browser? How did it look?

[Rhindle The Red]

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

 

Download Firefox! Firefox is the number one browser in the World right now. Google Chrome is a rising star as well - although not quite yet up to the market share as Firefox.

 

IE6 has about 14.4% of the market.

 

That is a totally inaccurate picture of the market. They even say themselves "These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."

 

Here's a more accurate version:

 

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-ma...re.aspx?qprid=0

[Devin]

That is a totally inaccurate picture of the market. They even say themselves "These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."

 

I can't put any validity into HitsLink stats given is collected primarily from paying clients and they show Alexa (spyware) on their website.

[Devin]

So why aren't we seeing more Firefox exploits than IE? My guess is because it's actually more secure.

 

I am very diligent with security on my home system. I don't use IE, never will. The fiasco known as ActiveX still haunts IE - and all Windows machines to this day.

 

I use XP SP2, but replaced the utterly worthless Windows Firewall with the free one from ZoneAlarn (I also have 2 redundant hardware firewalls). The Windows Firewall only offers incoming protection. Its basically half a firewall.

 

... and, just to be completely safe, I installed a plugin for Firefox called NoScript. You can control which websites can use Javascript.

 

I would also suggest to all users that they download Spybot Search and Destroy. The anti-spyware that comes with Vista and XP SP3 is worthless.

[+batari]

That is a totally inaccurate picture of the market. They even say themselves "These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."

 

I can't put any validity into HitsLink stats given is collected primarily from paying clients and they show Alexa (spyware) on their website.

I wasn't able to substantiate the claim that Firefox is #1, but I also couldn't find any evidence to suggest that 80% of current users use IE. Based on a wide variety of sources, I found that IE has a user base of about 60-70% but falling, and Firefox around 20-30% and growing.

[Devin]

That is a totally inaccurate picture of the market. They even say themselves "These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."

 

I can't put any validity into HitsLink stats given is collected primarily from paying clients and they show Alexa (spyware) on their website.

I wasn't able to substantiate the claim that Firefox is #1, but I also couldn't find any evidence to suggest that 80% of current users use IE. Based on a wide variety of sources, I found that IE has a user base of about 60-70% but falling, and Firefox around 20-30% and growing.

 

Okay.I still go by the motto: Friends don't let friends use IE and browse

[Breakpack]

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

 

Download Firefox! Firefox is the number one browser in the World right now. Google Chrome is a rising star as well - although not quite yet up to the market share as Firefox.

 

IE6 has about 14.4% of the market.

 

That is a totally inaccurate picture of the market. They even say themselves "These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is used by at least 80% of the users."

 

Here's a more accurate version:

 

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser-ma...re.aspx?qprid=0

 

Actually,I like this chart better!

 

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Marketshare development over the past 12 years.

 

[+Nathan Strum]

I wasn't able to substantiate the claim that Firefox is #1, but I also couldn't find any evidence to suggest that 80% of current users use IE. Based on a wide variety of sources, I found that IE has a user base of about 60-70% but falling, and Firefox around 20-30% and growing.

FireFox is installed by our IT department on every Windows PC where I work now, and is recommended as the browser of choice (I would guess IE is left on the computers for whatever reason, but people avoid it like the plague).

[Lord Helmet]

Okay.I still go by the motto: Friends don't let friends use IE and browse

 

My motto is similar:

 

Anyone using IE6 doesn't deserve the internet.

 

[yuppicide]

I will second you in that request. Thanks for backing it up with stats.

 

One request I have is that the batari Basic forum should be moved up at least one level.

 

The bB forum is buried pretty deep now ( AtariAge Forums > Game Programming > Programming > Atari 2600 Programming > batari Basic) but it has more posts and topics than any other in the programming subforum. At the very least, I think it should have a link on the main forum index in the Game Programming section.

 

The bB forum alone has 855 topics and nearly 10,000 posts, and that represents about 65% of the Atari 2600 Programming subforum and about 40% of the Programming forum, despite being about half as old. It also has more topics than Homebrew Discussion and nearly as many topics and posts as the Hacks section.

[yuppicide]

I don't see how Safari and Google Chrome said to be so much faster. I tried them out and saw no difference in speeds. I promptly uninstalled them not too much later.

 

Oh, just out of curiosity--is anyone here still using IE6? If so, you may want to upgrade soon..

 

..Al

 

I am too. I don't like 7 or 8. Is it not going to work with the new forum?

 

Download Firefox! Firefox is the number one browser in the World right now. Google Chrome is a rising star as well - although not quite yet up to the market share as Firefox.

 

IE6 has about 14.4% of the market.

[Albert]

I don't see how Safari and Google Chrome said to be so much faster. I tried them out and saw no difference in speeds. I promptly uninstalled them not too much later.

Faster than what?

 

..Al

[yuppicide]

Wonder if it's possible to have different ones?

 

Like maybe one person likes the Outlaw ones, and maybe someone else wants Pac Man themed one, etc.

 

The lock icon represents a conversation that you can no longer respond to because all the other participants have left. The guy sitting on his ass (this graphic is from Outlaw) is a conversation without any new messages. If someone sends you a new message, you'll see an orange icon with the gunslinger standing upright.

 

..Al

[STGuy1040]

I don't see how Safari and Google Chrome said to be so much faster. I tried them out and saw no difference in speeds. I promptly uninstalled them not too much later.

Faster than what?

 

..Al

 

 

Maybe he needs to upgrade?

[Devin]

I don't see how Safari and Google Chrome said to be so much faster. I tried them out and saw no difference in speeds. I promptly uninstalled them not too much later.

 

Speed is one thing. Security is far more important. I don't mean to knock Microsoft - they did a great job on the evolution of Windows and a great job on XP (can't say the same for Vista). Their software development tools are the best out there.

 

... but, security. Microsoft has never been able to do security well.

 

IE is not secure, has little to no privacy features, and has a clunky Vista-ish interface.

[+SpiceWare]

Their software development tools are the best out there.

Really? I hate Visual Studio:

 

Do a lot of changes to controls (add/rearrange/delete buttons, textboxes, ect) and it frequently scrambles the form's .h file. I've had it do things like leave the declaration of the variable with the default name (button1), but in the rest of the auto-generated code uses what I renamed it to (btnOK), and vise-versa. I've had times where it takes whole sections of control declarations and clone the lines numerous times(thus generating redefinition errors, requiring me to delete lots of code). I've also had it delete control definitions.

 

"IntelliSense" (Command Completion) is frequently not intelligent. Typing btnOK-> should pop up a list of what you can do with the button, such as Enable, Visible, etc. but frequently nothing shows up. The solution to that is to delete the .ncb file and hope for the best(it doesn't always help).

 

Find is often awol - many times I'll search for something I'm looking at(to locate other occurrences), and it's unable to locate anything.

 

The Toolbox icons frequently becomes confused - here's what mine currently looks like(see the icons for Button - NotifyIcon under Common Controls):

 

 

Also Visual Source Safe can't handle any network hiccups. Lose your connection and it's database is unhappy until you scan it for repairs, which takes a long time(30-40 minutes) that could be better spent coding.

[Albert]

Wonder if it's possible to have different ones?

 

Like maybe one person likes the Outlaw ones, and maybe someone else wants Pac Man themed one, etc.

That's an interesting idea, but probably not something I'm going to personally pursue. However, I do plan on installing multiple skins (quite a few, perhaps) and that will give people some variety. I may only make the extra skins available to those who buy subscriptions, though (especially since some of the skins will not be free).

 

..Al