These are the times that try men's souls.
For the record, I had forgotten there was a Windows partition on this machine. I am now logged in with Windows XP and IE 8. And once again, in spite of all the problems some people are having, I jumped right on and had absolutely no problems whatsoever.
Let me address some of the questions/comments real quickly.
Ron, in terms of footprint and speed, Google Chrome is the lightest and fastest. I find its user interface to be extremely minimalistic and do not care for it at all. I've used Firefox since before it was Firefox. I know where everything is in Firefox and don't have to waste time hunting for functions, like I do when using Chrome. So the milliseconds that Chrome might save me in page loads isn't worth the time I spend trying to find things. Firefox is a memory hog and everyone knows it. But it remains my number one choice.
Opera is another option. Not quite as fast as Chrome, definitely bigger than Chrome, but a better (in my not-so-humble opinion) UI. It is still laid out with enough differences that I cannot get comfortable with it.
Corley, there are two more complaints I am working with right now. However, these complaints continue to prove it is a cookie issue.
1. In both instances, the users seem to log in. The active users list shows they are logged in. That proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt the database recognizes their log in and is showing them as being in receipt of an active session ID cookie.
2. But in both instances, the users cannot access any member-only features and the secondary navigation module shows they are not logged in. Which also proves, beyond any shadow of a doubt, their browser has failed to accept the session ID cookie.
The software is issuing the session ID, because it shows them as logged in. That is all working, just as it should. The fact that ANY of us are logged in is further proof that the software is working. If it were not working, NONE of us would be able to log in. And Lord only knows, I've logged in with enough accounts and browsers and operating systems over these last few days. I'm on my fourth operating system now and on yet another browser.
The fact these members cannot access member-only features clearly shows their browsers have failed to accept the session ID. The browser "thinks" it is not logged in.
The only thing I cannot seem to sort is why the majority of our members are having no problem logging in and out, why I can take what appears to be a knackered account and successfully log in, why I cannot find any combination of OS and browser that fails to work for me when you couldn't find a combination that would work, why a member can log in from one computer and not another, why Steve can log in from his phone but not from his computer, etc.
But when the software recognizes a log in and a browser doesn't, there is only one reason why. A session ID cookie was either dropped or not accepted by the browser. Nothing else can cause that to happen. That much is open and shut.
Steve, please don't take me wrong. I wasn't suggesting your IT people make exceptions for you. What I was getting at is if you can talk with your IT team, you can sometimes learn what they are allowing and disallowing on the network. Which can help when trying to diagnose some problems. Some networks block domains. Some networks block cookies from certain domains. Some networks block image files. When someone is running on a network and complains they cannot see images on this site, I've no way of knowing if their network is blocking the images, or if they have another problem. Developing a good relationship with IT people means you can share conversation with them they might otherwise ignore, that's all.
OK, XP and IE 8 is working, so let's see if I can somehow make something else fail.
XP/Firefox 3.5.6. Now there's an oldies but goodies.
XP/Opera 10
XP/Chrome 4 Wow, now that is really old. I see Opera pitched in a couple extra line breaks, ala IE 9. What a pain.
XP/Safari 4 and Chrome added an extra line break too.