WebTV has released a new Upgrade version 2.6.1 which shows a marked improvement over previous upgrade releases. Although I have only been using it for 2 days now, I must admit that I am impressed, so far. The browser bugs that we have all become accustomed to and expect from WebTV have not materialized so far. They appear to have fixed the email bugs that were causing the missing characters and disappearing cursor. I don't know if my no longer using html in my signature has anything to do with this but I have experienced none of the problems with my email that I had with the 2.5.5 version. Another thing I have not seen with this browser is the WebTV Javascript bug that fails to read the page headers and leaves our title bar blank, necessitating a reload on the page.
This upgrade was offered to me through an email message from WebTV. I decided to accept it because as of last week, the only banking site I was still able to use with the 2.3 browser, upgraded their site and I could no longer access my bill paying account there. After taking the 2.6.1 upgrade, I was again able to access this site and work in my account there. I have since, logged onto another of my banking sites and can now navigate in there after recently loosing that ability. I attempted to sign up for online bill paying with that site but could only get a blank page when I clicked to signup. I believe the reason for that is the use on Java on that page which WebTV still does not support. I tired another banking site and was able to navigate and sign up for online account management, but that site uses "frames" which WebTV also still does not support and made it difficult. I was able to work around the frames however and was finally able to access my account. I still have others to try but the use of secure pages and site navigation does seem to be improved.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: Although my experience with this upgrade has so far been very favorable, you should be aware that I am using a new RCA WebTV terminal since the end of last year with 16 Megs of RAM. This upgrade is designed for only newer WebTV units and may not perform well with older units. You can try it and if you have problems then I suggest you go back to my Retrograde page and choose another version. I can only tell you that with my unit, I have not experienced any of the problems reported with the 2.6 version upgrade and have found only improved loading and connection speeds and more efficient navigation on the web.
Update 7/31/01: After 3 weeks with 2.6.1, I am still pleased and not having a bit of trouble with it. Some things, like checking Conniection Rate don't work anymore and some colors have been changed. I've had to change the font color on some of my pages because with this upgrade, they blend into the background color. I believe this is due to a change in the link default colors used in this upgrade. My silver color that I used in my email sig (when I had one) has turned to blue for example. But other than minor things like that, I find that many pages I couldn't use with Webtv before, now I can use such as the control panel for my domain. I use to have to use a pc to make changes there but now I can do it with this box, As I said, I am still pleased with it overall and find it an improvement over any other version I have used before.
Update 9/03/01: Although most features seem to be working better with 2.6.1, there is still one problem that is getting worse. More and more, webmasters are upgrading their sites to a version that is incompatable with ever the most current Webtv (MSNtv) browser. This has become increasingly noticable in banking and other sites where online bill paying is offered. Very few of these sites can be used anymore for online bill paying with MSNtv even with 2.6.1. I am dissapointed about this and have asked MSN to investigate and correct this problem. It may take some time for this to occure, if it does.
Before attempting to download 2.6.1, please read the important information on the Upgrade / Retrograde page.
This page will be updated as needed and when time permits.