Ok, maybe it’s not fair to compare Bo Derek with TimeControl but today’s topic is Internet Explorer version 10. As Windows 8 is making its way onto more and more PCs, IE10 has become more and more prolific amongst our users. In the last couple of weeks Microsoft has made IE10 available to a wide range of Windows 7 users as well and we have had numerous questions about TimeControl’s support of IE10.
If you are a TimeControl 6 basic timesheet user then you will likely find that TimeControl is supported without having to do anything new. Some of our tests have shown that under some conditions, you must turn on compatibility mode in which case you can add your TimeControl URL to your list of compatibilty sites to ensure that compatibility mode activates automatically for your site.
If you are a TimeControl Administrator, or someone who must use one of the few remaining ActiveX controls in TimeControl (such as for System Preferences) then you will have to ensure that IE10 is running in 32bit mode. Unlike IE9, Microsoft no longer ships two different Internet Explorer versions (32bit and 64bit). Both are contained in the same system. To turn on 32bit mode however isn’t obvious. If you are in a situation where you must run a TimeControl ActiveX, then you can turn it on in the Advanced Tab of your Internet Options. Scroll down to to “Enable Enhanced Protected Mode”, click it on and then click OK. Close all browser windows and restart and hey-presto! You’re in 32bit mode.
For most users this will not be required as it only applies to the handfull of users who must use one of those last few ActiveX Controls. If you have any challenges with IE10, please let TimeControl Support know at support@hms.ca.
When IE9 was first launched, we were certain we’d have no native support problems for it at all with TimeControl 6 After all, TimeControl now supports numerous browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari (yes, even on your Mac and iPad) so we were sure that IE9 support would be pretty much automatic.
Sadly that wasn’t the case and, while TimeControl 6 has worked just fine in IE9 compatibility mode, we have been working on completing our work with IE9 native (non-compatibility-mode) support. We’re delighted to say that we’ve completed that work. It wasn’t quite ready in time for the recent TimeControl 6.4 launch so it has been put into TimeControl 6.4.1 which has just been released. If you’ve already configured all the PCs in your organization to use TimeControl 6 in compatibility mode, then don’t worry. TimeControl 6.4.1 will recognize both IE9 in native and compatibility modes.
While we were at it, we added functionality to the new Project Manager Validation view to allow it to show all timesheet lines even if they’re not linked to a project management system or even to a resource and did some small fixes to other features.
The new version is available to all TimeControl clients with current support agreements at timecontrol.com/support/updates.
In older versions of Internet Explorer, you used to be able to keep two copies of TimeControl running at a time. For supervisors and administrators this can be very attractive. They might want to be looking at charge code items in the table as one user for example while in another screen they do approvals. In IE8 and other more recent versions, this doesn’t at first seem to be possible. This is because Internet Explorer caches sessions to be more performant in displaying a website.
Not to worry, the old capabilities are still there. What you need in IE is a “New Session’ rather than just a new tab or new window. A new session looks like a new window but is, in fact, a whole new instance of IE running at the same time.
To do this, start up your first instance of TimeControl then go to the File Menu (You might need to press ‘Alt’ to see it. Now select “New Session” and a new window of IE will appear and allow you to relogin as someone else to TimeControl at the same time.
The official blogsite of TimeControl
If you are a TimeControl Administrator, or someone who must use one of the few remaining ActiveX controls in TimeControl (such as for System Preferences) then you will have to ensure that IE10 is running in 32bit mode. Unlike IE9, Microsoft no longer ships two different Internet Explorer versions (32bit and 64bit). Both are contained in the same system. To turn on 32bit mode however isn’t obvious. If you are in a situation where you must run a TimeControl ActiveX, then you can turn it on in the Advanced Tab of your Internet Options. Scroll down to to “Enable Enhanced Protected Mode”, click it on and then click OK. Close all browser windows and restart and hey-presto! You’re in 32bit mode.