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The answer to the issue is quite simple: Banks list their recommended browsers to avoid headaches. Yes, Lynx with SSL support may work well enough, but who wants to go chasing down the an obscure bug that only affects 0.00001% of their users?

Personally, my credit union has no issue with what browser I use; they had a XHTML issue which I argued with the Mozilla people they should allow (because I thought XHTML was grey when it came to someone does <SELECT><OPTION ... />Option_Display</SELECT>), but this resolved itself when the credit union changed their HTML header. I used to be able to get into Ing Direct with Konqueror, although I am presently having issues with logins (I do not know if it is a Konqueror or ING bug; changing browser idents does not fix the issue). First Union/Wachovia historically has not given me issues, although I no longer have an account there. But all my personal banking can be done through Netscape for Linux without issues.

For an example of a system which dicates browsers strictly, I name the brokerage Scottrade. They say you can *only* use Internet Explorer or Netscape (but fortunately, do not name an operating system). Why do they do this? Well, if you read their terms of service, they specifically name a number of programs that you cannot use, which gather quotes, attempt to place stock trades automatically, etc. Here, there is a clear and valid danger should someone use a malicious client to do trades, etc.

While I have not asked, I'm certain that if you told a company like Scottrade that other *legitamite* web browsers existed, that they might allow them. I think many banks/brokerages/etc. just specify specific browsers because they [1] don't want people calling them about bugs while using XXXX (my transfer didn't go through, and browser Y said it did!) and [2] want the extra legal leg to stand on should someone attempt to compromise their system with an alternative Internet client. Of course, malicious clients can act like they are legitamite ones, but the more legal room the banks think they have, the better they feel about being online.

I use First Union. Using Mozilla on Win2k, it works just fine. I also like their interface - you can display a portion of your account statement based on date, and can click an icon that pops up a calander, click a date and it automagically gets filled into the textbox.

However, they're in a merger with Wachovia (sp?), and I dont know where things are headed.

• First Union
  
• Capital One
  

Java was a great idea let down by a flawed implementation and a flawed corporate strategy IMHO. What I think is that whilst the language itself isn't really going anywhere fast, the idea behind it will live on.

Java is used by almost every major player in every major industry in the U.S. and beyond. Personal Java runs on the myriad embedded systems with their own JVM and even American Express credit cards. Java servlets and JSP run myriad websites from mail.com to First Union . Enterprise Java Beans and it's associate web server platforms has spawned a cottage industry of server platform developers that include IBM, Bea, Allaire and more. Java ships with a free fully functional CORBA orb which allows for rapid development of robust, multi-tiered distributed applications.

Simply because all the C hackers and Perl users on Slashdot aren't using Java does not mean that it isn't going anywhere fast. I haven't seen a new Linux app coded in Lisp or Smalltalk in a while, this doesn't mean they are dead.

And it seems as though Microsoft have learned the lesson from this that Sun didn't, so I expect C# to go places Java never will.

C# will be a Microsoft only language which already puts it behind Java in places it can go. Standardization of the syntax of the language is useless if all the underlying DCOM/COM+/.NET infrastructure exists only on Windows.

On the other hand, I recently wrote a testing tool for a multibillion dollar corporation that sells SCM software to several Fortune five hundred companies, over the summer and noticed that Java is almost Write Once Run Anywhere as originally promised by Sun. The company I worked for supports six different platforms and is considering supporting Linux as a seventh. Their languages of choice for building tools for cross-platform development were Perl and Java. The chances of them switching all that to C# and losing over 50 per cent of their customers? ZERO

Of course the actual apps were written in Motif/MFC depending on the platform



Grabel's Law

I've noticed that when JSP is implemented in large-scale projects (for example, in banks), JRun is often the product used.

The authors may have stayed away from JRun to keep from pushing Allaire too much - as the same company that brings us ColdFusion also brings us JSP - but I wish they hadn't. It would be nice to see how the performance stacks up.

1. The new American Express credit cards use Java Card(TM) technology. That's right, American Express credit cards now run Java. Here's an
2. interview with the CIO of Amex.

1. Both
2. Oracle 8i and IBM's DB2 use Java extensively both for their DB administration GUIs as well as for middleware code. If you didn't know, these are the number 1 and number 2 Enterprise database systems in the world

1. Java servlets and JSP are used extensively on the web from sites like
2. mail.com to Firstunion.com. Hundreds of sites use Java(TM) to deliver dynamic content these two are simply the most prominent that come to mind.

1. Personal Java(TM) runs on
2. millions of settop cable boxes in the United States.

Personally, I use First Union, and they've just recently gotten their heads out of their butts and become pretty decent in their online offerings. (It used to be that their online bill payment system used a netscape plugin that only worked on 95/98, not even NT, certainly not *nix).

The system they have now uses a pure web-based system (currently supplied by checkfree, but I've talked to them and they're building their own improved interface) for bill payment, bill presentment, etc. The interface they have is fairly nice. It's cool to be able to tell it "Ok, every month pull down my phone bill and if it's not over X dollars, pay it automagically." They have a nice system for statement download for checking, savings, and credit cards. They have a section for brokerage services, but I don't use it so I can't comment on it. Personally, I'm happy with them. If for no other reason than when I call their tech support, I usually get someone clueful.

They have demos set up of most of their functionality. Browse through it and see if it looks like what you want.

Personally, I use First Union, and they've just recently gotten their heads out of their butts and become pretty decent in their online offerings. (It used to be that their online bill payment system used a netscape plugin that only worked on 95/98, not even NT, certainly not *nix).

The system they have now uses a pure web-based system (currently supplied by checkfree, but I've talked to them and they're building their own improved interface) for bill payment, bill presentment, etc. The interface they have is fairly nice. It's cool to be able to tell it "Ok, every month pull down my phone bill and if it's not over X dollars, pay it automagically." They have a nice system for statement download for checking, savings, and credit cards. They have a section for brokerage services, but I don't use it so I can't comment on it. Personally, I'm happy with them. If for no other reason than when I call their tech support, I usually get someone clueful.

They have demos set up of most of their functionality. Browse through it and see if it looks like what you want.