[cw-discuss] Online Banking IE & Java

[Peter Bradley]

Ysgrifennodd Joe Baker:
> We bank with Chase/JPMorganChase bank and they want us to use IE and
> Sun's JRE 1.4.2_10.  We have purchased Crossover Office Pro 6.0 for
> Linux and are trying to get this solution to work.
>
> I've found suggestions to set the Windows Version to NT or 2000 when
> installing the JREs but this dosn't seem to help us here.
>
> This is such a strange problem to have.  After all, Java was supposed to
> be write once run everywhere.
>
> -Joe Baker
>   
I'm sorry?  Are you speaking as a customer of Chase/JPMorganChase bank, 
or as a developer contracted to develop something for them?

Let's make some comments anyway and see if they help you:

1) JRE 1.4.2_10

There are some problems between Java 1.4 and Java 1.5 and I know of 
other programs that have difficulty with 1.5.  At work we have to insist 
that users of Business Objects WebIntelligence v6 have Java 1.4 
installed and not 1.5 - and that they resist all pleadings from Sun to 
upgrade.  I'm not sure if Business Object XI fixes this.

So they could be on firm ground with that one.  If you really must have 
1.5 and it breaks their site, you'll have to either downgrade or change 
your bank, depending on which dilemma horn is the sharpest for you.

2) IE

Have you tried using their site with Firefox/Konq/Safari/whatever?  Does 
it refuse to work?  If not, then you're in the clear.

If the site refuses to work, have you tried changing the User Agent so 
that their site thinks you're running IE?  You do this in Konq from 
Settings > Configure Konqueror >  Browser Identification.  Does it work 
now?  If so, you're in the clear.

If neither of the above work, you should either buy an expensive Windows 
box like a good slave and use IE (and WGA and DRM), or change your 
bank.  I know which I would do.

<rant>
3)  And finally

It's got nothing to do with Java and everything to do with lazy and 
ignorant Web "programmers" who are too idle to follow standards so that 
their sites will work just about anywhere, on anything - given a few 
tweaks here and there to get IE to behave like a sensible browser.  I'm 
told IE7 is better in this respect, but haven't tested it myself.
</rant>

HTH


Peter