Annoying Gmail message in Firefox

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Dickster

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Apr 26, 2012, 12:26:40 AM4/26/12
to Gmail-Users
I'm constantly getting:
You are using an old version of Firefox which Gmail no longer
supports. Some features may not work correctly.
Upgrade to new version. Dismiss

Unfortunately, I'm on the "latest" version of Firefox that will run on
my Intel-based Mac-Mini with Mac OSX 10.4.11, and I have no intention
of changing to a 10.5 or above system.

So, is there any "option" or "setting" that can eliminate this
annoying message?

Jeff Grossman

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Apr 26, 2012, 9:11:14 PM4/26/12
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I don't think so. Gmail is always getting updated to use the most
modern web browser technology, mainly html5 right now. The older
browsers will not support all of the newer features they want or are
implementing making your Gmail experience unpleasant. The only thing
that I could recommend would be switching to the basic html version of
Gmail. I am not sure if that will work, but worth a shot I guess.

Jeff

Marko Vukovic

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Apr 27, 2012, 2:13:28 AM4/27/12
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Hi Dick

I'm not sure but Opera 10.63 may still work.  http://www.opera.com/browser/download/?os=mac&ver=10.63&local=y 

The URL for the HTML only version of Gmail is https://mail.google.com/mail/h/

Wouldn't the $29 be worth it to upgrade to Snow Leopard at least? 


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Marko

Michael7177

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Apr 27, 2012, 9:45:09 AM4/27/12
to Gmail-Users
I am also having the same problem with the Gmail message on both my
home workstation and my laptop. It's not a matter of a small upgrade.
My home computer is a 2004 powerpc G5 which runs great. Firefox 3.6.28
is the latest browser that will run on a powerpc. It's the same Gmail
problem with my Safari browser. So I'd have to buy another computer.
My laptop is iBook G4 which is also in great condition. So I'd have to
buy a newer laptop with the intel processor.

Why doesn't Google Gmail just code to accommodate these earlier
versions or offer in their relentless error messaging an available
Gmail option?

I'm surprised Google, which is usually great with Usability Design
(UX), would be making such an obvious User Experience mistake. It's
makes me question what's going on with their whole company.

Dickster

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Apr 27, 2012, 10:57:13 PM4/27/12
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Michael, I'm glad you responded as you did.  I have other Macs that are older than my Mac-Mini, and I prefer to have a "similar view" on each.  Google has turned into "Big Brother", in my opinion.  I can't get s.p.a.m filters to work properly, nor can I view anything about how the filtering process works.  I can't "Post" on most of the new Google Forums, even though I'm a member.  Even the search box acts strange...I can't copy/paste within the box.  And the list goes on-and-on.  But, back to this issue... there is an ENV variable called "HTTP_USER_AGENT" that contains sufficient information for Google to determine what I have for both hardware and software.  For me, it looks like this:  "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10.4; en-US; rv:1.9.2.28) Gecko/20120306 Firefox/3.6.28".  That should be enough for Google to know there's no sense in telling me to get the "latest Firefox browser, which is 12.0, and DOES NOT WORK on any Mac OSX below 10.5.x.

My only alternative has been to switch to the "basic HTML version" of Gmail.  Then, when I need something not covered by that version, I switch back to the Standard version.  Not pretty.

Marko Vukovic

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Apr 28, 2012, 5:05:29 AM4/28/12
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Guys, how long would you expect Google to maintain a version of Gmail that works on older browsers, on older platforms that neither developer/manufacturer maintains? I'm guessing there's probably also not enough users still on those older platforms to realistically justify two separate development streams.
It is also not up to Google to continually determine which version of what user agent works on what platform and version. 
Like it or not, even though your older computer still works great and you have the choice not to upgrade hardware and/or software, Google also has the choice of what their software will support:  http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=37057 


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Dickster

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Apr 28, 2012, 10:31:38 AM4/28/12
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Marko, Google already maintains "two separate development streams".  http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=15049&ctx=gmail
All we are asking for is that Google stop pestering us with what we already know.  It would also be helpful if the Standard view had a link to the HTML view.  The HTML view has a link to the Standard view, but not the other way around.  We understand our hardware/software is getting old, but there are a lot of people who can't afford to continually buy new hardware and software.  Dickster
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Marko Vukovic

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Oct 10, 2012, 4:51:24 AM10/10/12
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I am not seeing this behaviour at all. I have tried with Firefox 16 (latest release) and Pale Moon 15.2-x64

Please send us a screenshot of this message.

Pale Moon is not a new version of Firefox, it is one of many projects based on Firefox (which is Open Source). Waterfox (64 bit Windows only) is another that I like.

On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 7:25 PM, Morgain <shir...@gmail.com> wrote:
I use Pale Moon which is a NEW version of Firefox.
It displays all the gmail features without trouble.

I used to get a minor annoyance message telling me my browse is out of date when it isn't.
But I could at least close it.

Now I get a LARGE message ORDERING me to "update." Presumably trying to herd me into Chrome. Nor can I close it.

Arrogant stupid and unfriendly.





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