Out of Memory at line: 21 error with IE7 on Vista

19 Jul 2012

The Mbed site seems to work OK with IE9 on Win7, but with my IE7 on Vista, I now (recently) get a LONG delay and then Error on Page status and a IE Error box saying "Out of Memory at Line: 21". Seems to happen when loadig most pages.

This just started recently, after a couple of months of successful Mbed compiliing, etc. on the same Vista system.

Might there be a bug in some of the "new" Java code? Thanks, Gary

-deleted-
20 Jul 2012

Hi,

We've updated the Compiler with a possible fix for the Vista/IE7 issue.
Please let us know if that fixes it for you as well.
Thanks in advance.

Even though we try our best to maintain compatibility with all major browsers and also with ancient ones like IE6, IE7 is an example of browsers that are broken beyond repair.
That specific version of IE was supposed to introduce new features and optimizations, implemented in a non-standard and often faulty way.
Quoting http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ie/ms536437.aspx
"In IE7 Standards mode and previous modes, this method performs a case-insensitive match on both the ID and NAME attributes, which might produce unexpected results."
Another issue of IE7 is the very poor implementation of document zoom which was fixed in IE8.
And the list goes on.

I would strongly advise avoiding IE7 or upgrading it to IE8+. Even downgrading to IE6 is an option.

Mihail

20 Jul 2012

Thanks, Your change makes IE7 now work. I hate to "fix" things that seem to be working. However, I am in the process of Upgrading to IE9 now.

So, thanks for the suggestion, and your examples of some reasons to leave IE7. I was not aware of the "buggy" parts of IE7.

Thanks again, Gary

-deleted-
20 Jul 2012

Hi again,

Thank you for reporting the issue!
Using your bug report we managed to fix it for other unsuspecting IE7 users.

And about IE7 in general - in IE7-IE9 series, IE7 performs worst of all and while not consuming as much memory as IE9, it's less standards compliant, less secure, the plugin management is almost non-existing, not to mention lack of developer tools, etc.
Upgrading to IE9 is a step forward and you might notice that the Compiler and other websites load noticeably faster (given the memory requirements for IE9 are met) as IE9 uses the graphical acceleration of your video controller if present.

Anyway, thanks again and please don't hesitate to write in the forums or contact us if you find any other issues with the Compiler or other mbed services - we really appreciate it!

Mihail