I recently tried to sign up for online access to my Wells Fargo Financial account. I am on a mac and use Firefox or Safari - depending on my mood.

I went to sign up and was re-directed to a webpage that said that I should use Netscape Navigator instead!!! I ended up having to login using Internet Explorer from within Parallels on my macbook pro. It is ridiculous. I'm speculating that Wells Fargo still uses that stagecoach on their logo to have their mail delivered!

Here's the message he got from Wells Fargo's website:

We support the following browsers. If your browser does not meet Wells Fargo's security standards, please follow the download instructions below.

Note: We strongly recommend that your computer be running one of the operating systems listed below, and be connected to the internet using one of the browser versions indicated.

Netscape® 6.XX and 7.XX

* Netscape Navigator/Communicator Upgrade for Windows
* Netscape Upgrade for Macintosh

Microsoft® Internet Explorer (MSIE) 5.X - 6.XX

* MSIE Upgrade for Windows

America Online® 4.0 - AOL 8.0 for Windows; use with MSIE 5.X - 6.0

* America Online Browser Upgrade

Eric is currently using Parallels to run IE, and is annoyed by that.

Wells Fargo Financial [EricStoller]
(Photo:Getty)

She mentioned her problems to the AT&T CSR and It turns out that they don't support operating systems other than Windows, or browsers other than Internet Explorer. Jen notes that she's never had any previous problems accessing the website in the 8 years she's been a customer.

Here's AT&T's response.

Dear Ms. [redacted],

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T. I apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced in regard to accessing att.com/wireless using the Safari web browser.

After reading your e-mail, I have found that AT&T supports Microsoft Windows operating systems and the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser. This does not mean that other web browsers or operating systems are not compatible at www.att.com/wireless, but there may be compatibility situations that arise and AT&T is unable to assist in these rare situations, because AT&T only supports Microsoft Windows operating systems and the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser.

However, we also value all of our customer's opinion and appreciate your feed back. I have forwarded your feed back on to the appropriate office so that your voice will be heard.

We greatly appreciate the opportunity to serve you. Please let us know if we can assist in any other way, and thank you for choosing AT&T.

Sincerely,

Christina [redacted]
AT&T Online Customer Care Professional

How to Block Facebook Beacon [WikiHow]
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YogurtEarl's GreaseMonkey scripts [YogurtEarl]

RetailMeNot [Firefox Add-ons via Lifehacker]

He bases his claim on Comcast's install procedure, which he says requires IE5... even on a Mac. Teehee! Here's the best part:

The web contains other stories — including one from a user group for Apple fans. One Mac owner reports he'd called Comcast to troubleshoot his cable modem. Comcast's technician told him he knew "nothing about *&@#$ing Macs,"eventually disappearing into his truck. By the time the technican returned, the customer had repaired the cable modem himself with a phone call to Comcast's support line.

Do we think Comcast hates Macs and Firefox? No. Do we think Comcast considers the customers who use these products to be a statistically insignificant anomaly not worthy of the considerable investment it would take to optimize their products? Yes.

Does Comcast hate Macs? [Tech.Blorge via Slashdot]

Unsupported Browser
We're sorry ...
Our website requires the browser Internet Explorer version 6 or higher. It appears that you are using Firefox, Safari, or another browser that Wal-Mart Video Downloads doesn't currently support. Click here to get Internet Explorer for free from Microsoft.

Thank You

Walmart Video Downloads

Tip: Trust is Hard to Gain, Easy To Lose [Blake Ross via The Inquirer]

Now we learn that Firefox actually has more bugs and security vulnerabilities than Internet Explorer. Really.

Our shock and disappointment felt like a sucker punch to the gut. Firefox has been good to us, with fewer pop-ups, cleaner page loading, and a The pain and suffering rapidly subsided with the follow-up, though: While Internet Explorer has fewer gaping security holes, Microsoft takes NINE TIMES as long to patch each problem. Nine.

Why does a corporation the size of Microsoft take that much longer than Mozilla to fix a problem? Well, laziness comes to mind.

Bottom line: Despite a great raw number of errors in the browser, Firefox is still better at warding off attack by viruses and other nastiness than IE. Add that to your hymnbook.

Firefox Buggier, But IE Takes 9 Times Longer to Patch [Information Week]

He loaded up the gift certificates in his browser, but Best Buy wouldn't let him print them out.

Danilo missed the tiny print below the big yellow button that said the printing.... only works in Internet Explorer.

You only get two shots to print. Danilo fudged both and now has to wait a month before trying to print again.

Best Buy sucks. Stop shopping there. Danilo's letter inside.

"Gentlemen,

Having worked within the belly of the beast for two years when I was a lad, I rarely have good things to say about Best Buy.

I'm not going to start now, either.

I purchased a 32" LCD television from Best Buy many weeks ago. Best Buy offers a $10 subscription to a one-year loyalty plan that gives you points per purchase when you shop there. These points can be turned into gift certificates for the store.

So, after many weeks of waiting, the sizable chunk of points accrued from my big purchase ceased to be "pending" and were convertible to reward certificates, according to an E-Mail BBY sent to me. I eagerly loaded the page in Firefox to print out those certificates and then I got screwed.

It seems their printing mechanism only works in IE. They make note of this in tiny print below a rather noticeable, yellow button that blithely encourages you to proceed with printing.

Anyone who has attended a few days of even the most rudimentary web development classes would be able to disable that button and show an alert to users browsing with Firefox. Best Buy, on the other hand, makes the user think everything is working fine. When the user discovers that not to be the case, it's too late — you only get two shots at printing your certificate and it has to happen from the same browser.

I have to wait at least a month before Best Buy will let me print the certificate again, according to their telephone support.

So awesome. The process doesn't feel all that polished and I'm not inclined to continue paying the annual $10 fee."