Possible issues occurring for some website visitors

Since the release of Windows XP SP2 (Service Pack 2) we are getting an increase in issues relating around our client's customers when registering on or purchasing from a website. I wanted to inform you of these problems so you can either put information on your website informing your customers of these issues or be able to handle their enquires when they encounter problems.

Let me start by saying that these problems are not unique to e-StudioMax, but are being experienced right through-out the website development world. Programming forums are full of developers seeking information on how to overcome these problems. They are also not new, but with the release of Windows XP SP2 have become more common.

We are working hard to eliminate these issues, but in some cases it will take a complete rewrite of parts of e-StudioMax and may even mean we move away from using JavaScript for client side functionality altogether, which is like saying we are going to invent a car without wheels.

Pop-up blocking/ JavaScript filtering
While the blocking of pop-up windows is not new, with the release of Windows XP SP2, Internet Explorer users are now having pop-ups blocked automatically. This in itself is not a real issues as e-StudioMax detects when pop-up blocking is enabled and alerts the user to enable pop-ups so that the shopping trolley will appear when they place an order.

However, Windows XP SP2's firewall has a known conflict with ZoneAlarm. In extreme cases it can crash the computer and even make it so that it wont boot up. In other instances it will stop JavaScript alerts from displaying, which means that our warning to your website users that they need to enable pop-ups in order to view the shopping trolley is not being displayed.

Some other virus detection and firewall software, including AGV and Norton Antivirus also can be enabled to 'block scripting' in browser windows,  which effectively also blocks JavaScript alerts from being displayed. This problem, we think, is mainly occurring in Windows XP SP2 users. I wont bore you with the technical details, but ZoneAlarm's creator's are blaming the issue on hardware incompatibilities and other's are saying it is part of Microsoft's new software that is causing the issues. Whatever the issues are, it is affecting a lot of Internet users.

In essence this means we cannot detect if a user has JavaScript enabled or not, and cannot automatically inform them of any issues they may experience using your website.

I have to stress, this problem is only occurring for less than 1 to 2% of website visitors, but the trend is growing. As I stated earlier, we are now even looking at ways of creating client side functionality that doesn't rely on JavaScript.

Spyware
Spyware is small programs that download automatically from some nasty and not so nasty websites and also comes with some file sharing software. They can capture your internet surfing activity, keyboard key strokes and can even take over your browser. These very annoying and potentially harmful software programs are now becoming very very common. I pick up a new spyware program trying to load on my computer about 1-2 times a week! - and I never visit 'nasty' websites!!

For your clients, some of these programs can capture their browser and cause a number of issues for them when they try and surf your website.

The good news is that Microsoft is currently building an Antispyware program that detects and eliminates these from your system. I have loaded the beta version of this program on my system and it is very very effective at detecting and eliminating these malicious programs. If you would like to do the same go to Microsoft.com and do a search on Antispyware beta. You can then download it and install it on your computer.

Unfortunately, many of your clients will not have done this and their machines will be riddled with spyware - virtually every customer I visit has some of these programs running on their system. The problem is so widespread that the government and banking industry are making noises about possible security breaches because of them.

I suggest that you inform your customers of the problem and direct them to download Microsoft's antispyware program for themselves.

Free Upgrades
The very good news is that we are constantly upgrading e-StudioMax and watching out for these sort of issues - and you will get all the upgrades free-of-charge :-)

We may not be able to completely eliminate all the future issues your client's experience when using your website, but we are committed to making e-StudioMax as robust and enjoyable to use as humanly possible.