A Linux-Watch reader today reported difficulties using Microsoft's Hotmail service with Firefox browsers running on Linux operating systems. We confirmed that creating a new Hotmail account was not possible, due to an error message suggesting a "browser upgrade."
The screenshot below depicts the error message received when trying to use the Iceweasel browser on Debian Sid to create a new account. However, reader Carl Bolling says he experienced errors using the newest Firefox 3.03 browser on Ubuntu 8.10, CentOS 5.2, and Fedora 9.
Iceweasel of course produces an error, even though it works identically to Firefox
Bolling wries, "I have been a Hotmail user since before it was bought by Microsoft. I guess I still use it because I have used it for so long, even though I mostly run Linux. Imagine my surprise when after an "upgrade" of Hotmail that happened over the weekend I can no longer send email from any Linux client."
Bolling says that when attempting to use Linux and Firefox to access HotMail, he is unable to put text into the subject or message fields, and that the text is cleared from forwarded messages. He explains, "So, to be technical, I found I can still send BLANK emails, but nothing new."
Bolling said that for weeks prior to the loss of service, Hotmail entreated him to "try upgrading your browser." However, he writes, "I was already using Firefox 3.03, so I thought it was odd that Hotmail was telling me to upgrade to a new browser (like Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari). I would press the "just keep going" button and it would work. Well it works no more."
Bolling adds, "And I have checked and if I run Windows and Firefox it works fine, so clearly, MS has broken their service to only work on MS systems. What do you think of that?"
Ironically, Hotmail itself runs in part on Linux servers, according to Netcraft's analysis. Your reporter recalls a scuttled effort shortly after Microsoft purchased Hotmail to switch all the business's servers to Windows. Additionally, a Linux and Hotmail user famously paid delinquent DNS charges on behalf of Microsoft to rescue the service from an outtage.
They should be nicer to us.
UPDATE -- In testing with Firefox 3.03 on Mepis Linux, Linux-Watch was able to create a Microsoft Live ID and Hotmail account, and to successfully send and receive email from the account. This led us to experiment with modifying Iceweasel's "UserAgent" setting, so we could use our Debian system with Hotmail, too. We loaded "about:config" in the address bar, entered "iceweasel" in the search bar, and then changed the value of the the "general.useragent.extra.firefox" entry from "Iceweasel/3.03" to "Firefox/3.03". After that, Hotmail worked as expected. As an added bonus, we could also use the Rhapsody music streaming services, and other websites that use loose browser qualification by parsing the UserAgent string sent by the browser in the HTTP header.