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jasong · Jul 15, 2008, 10:10 PM

My organization (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) only has IE 6 for a browser on its network computers and does not allow installing new programs. So now that .Mac mail is gone and MobileMe mail is all the rage, I can no longer access my email from work. I thought I would get around it by using logmein.com and just access my laptop at home directly, but this site is blocked by our proxy.

So, I need a way to access me.com from IE 6 without altering the user agent, running an active x control, or using logmein.com . . .

Help!

TETENAL · Jul 15, 2008, 10:35 PM

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

jasong · Jul 16, 2008, 06:28 AM

Awesome, I knew that would be coming my way. Kinda drives up the price of MobileMe though . . .

JKT · Jul 16, 2008, 11:56 AM

Portable Firefox? If you can use USB sticks on your machines, it might work.

besson3c · Jul 16, 2008, 12:13 PM

If you can't do the portable Firefox thing, if there are any outbound ports that are open that you can use, you can:

1) Setup your home router to do dynamic DNS
2) Setup your router to port forward requests on one of those ports that aren't blocked by your firewall
3) Configure SSH to listen on this port from your home computer, enable SSH
4) Install the X11 version of Firefox on your home Mac, as well as X11 (which is a free download)
5) Access your mail via SSH X11 forwarding and your DDNS address

I'm assuming that installing a standalone client to access your mail is also out of the question?

MacosNerd · Jul 16, 2008, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by jasong

My organization (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) only has IE 6 for a browser on its network computers and does not allow installing new programs.

Thats been my bone of contention as well. Having such an artificial limitation on the website is absurd.

TETENAL · Jul 16, 2008, 01:31 PM

The limitation is not artificial. IE 6 can't handle Mobile Me.

MacosNerd · Jul 16, 2008, 04:32 PM

IE6 cannot handle Mobile me - A website for emails/contacts/calendar. Seems ludicrous to say that IE6 is soo bad and incompatible that It cannot be used to check my email, especially when the old .mac could, also google, doesn't seem to impose such a limitation as well as other webmail applications - Just mobileme Everyone seems to be able to use IE6 but not mobileme but its not mobileme's fault.

jasong · Jul 16, 2008, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

If you can't do the portable Firefox thing, if there are any outbound ports that are open that you can use, you can: . . .
I'm assuming that installing a standalone client to access your mail is also out of the question?

Standalone client access is out of the question. Every computer is logged in as a standard workstation and we log into each app as it is used. The system is stripped to IE 6, calculator, StarOffice (via citrix) and Outlook (via citrix). Everything else is web based. That also means I don't have command line access, so how would I SSH back to my mac?

Oh, and I am personally not interested in the debate over who's right and who's wrong. I don't care. MobileMe is what it is, and I need to find a way to work with it. In reality, not in some magical world where an internet petition gets Apple to make MobileMe work with IE 6.

besson3c · Jul 16, 2008, 09:28 PM

Sorry jasong, I was thinking about how you'd do that from a Mac connected to the same network. I wasn't thinking about the fact that you are tethered to a Windows machine.

Remote Access (RDP) is native to Windows though, so would they permit remote desktop connections to another Windows machine (e.g. on your home network) you could bounce off of? RDP uses port 3389.

MacosNerd · Jul 16, 2008, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by jasong

I need to find a way to work with it. In reality, not in some magical world where an internet petition gets Apple to make MobileMe work with IE 6.

I don't think its going to happen, which is too bad, because it limits my usage and ability to use it.

I was holding out for this, but since I (actually my wife) cannot access .me with IE6, I'll have to use the google apps instead of giving apple any more money for .me

TETENAL · Jul 16, 2008, 10:03 PM

Originally Posted by jasong

Everything else is web based.

Then your only actual option is a web based IMAP client.

JKT · Jul 17, 2008, 04:39 AM

Originally Posted by jasong

Standalone client access is out of the question. Every computer is logged in as a standard workstation and we log into each app as it is used. The system is stripped to IE 6, calculator, StarOffice (via citrix) and Outlook (via citrix). Everything else is web based. That also means I don't have command line access, so how would I SSH back to my mac?

Oh, and I am personally not interested in the debate over who's right and who's wrong. I don't care. MobileMe is what it is, and I need to find a way to work with it. In reality, not in some magical world where an internet petition gets Apple to make MobileMe work with IE 6.

If your company is that anal about what is installed, I'm surprised that they let you check your personal e-mail!

Hopefully Apple will add back a fallback position such as the old .Mac e-mail interface so that corporate IE6 victims can use it, but I wouldn't expect it any time soon given that their priority is likely to be making MobileMe function properly first.

jasong · Jul 18, 2008, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Then your only actual option is a web based IMAP client.

Why didn't I think of that. Awesome. You just enhanced my life. Using http://mail2web.com for now, but will work on installing roundcube this weekend.