The other end of the no-support spectrum - ONLY the older systems are supported

If you've read me for a while, you'll recall that I was slightly displeased in 2008 when websites began to display hate speech when I visited them on my work computer - my work computer for which Internet Explorer 6 was the only authorized web browser. At the time the browser was still supported by Microsoft, and (as I noted) there were enterprise users for which the newer browsers had not yet been approved.

But I just heard about something that takes things to the other extreme. Remember that it is now 2013, five years after my rant was written. Elisa T has shared a link to a United Kingdom benefits site for the Department of Work and Pensions that has specific computer requirements. The site cautions you that only selected operating system and web browser combinations will work with the service. Here's an example of the listings, in this case for Windows XP.

Microsoft Windows XP
•Internet Explorer 6.0
•Netscape 7.2
•Firefox1.0.3
•Mozilla 1.7.7

Now some of you will be pleased that the DWP supports a service as old as Windows XP, although you may not care for the limited choice of browser software and versions.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you.

Windows XP is not the oldest operating system that the DWP system supports - it's the NEWEST. No Vista, no Windows 7, no Windows 8. Oh, and no Mac or Unix operating systems either. (Linux isn't even mentioned; nor is Windows 7 or Windows 8, come to think of it.)

Now perhaps the DWP figures that the people that use this site haven't been able to buy a new computer for the last decade.

Or something.