Since I upgraded to Widows 8.1.1, I’ve run into an annoying problem. Whenever I want to “Insert Link,” Windows forces me to open a new window in Desktop rather than Metro. Is there an easy way to fix this, or do I just have to live with it?
What browser? I’ve never seen this behavior with Firefox under Win 8.1 update 1.
Sounds like the OP I using the App version of IE.
No idea what might be causing it, as the IE app was one of the firs t things I ditched.
Yep, app version of IE.
Sorry, I don’t use IE in app mode either, so I can only guess. vBulletin seems to be using the window.prompt() dialog function to ask for the link URL. This is no longer supported since IE10, at least when running in app mode.
Mozilla claims it’s specced in HTML5. Microsoft claims there’s no spec for it. The spec itself lists the functions as “non-normative” whatever that means. So like so many web hissy-fights, it’s impossible to determine who is “in the right” here.
EDIT: actually looking at the spec again, it looks like the “non-normative” tag only applies to the examples given above the function definitions below, which would put Mozilla in the right. Technically.
Chrome also has an app-mode, it might be worth a couple minutes of your time to see if Chrome’s app-mode implements window.prompt() or not.
Cool. Thanks.
You might consider using a proper tablet interface like Tapatalk instead?
- [Editorial]Tapatalk is the spawn of Satan.[/Editorial]
- You presume that OP is using Win 8.1 on a tablet. Negative, ghostrider; odds are pretty good that if the hardware were a tablet platform, the OS would be identified as RT, not 8.x. So, Tapatalk on an x86/AMD64 laptop or desktop? I think not. Not even once.
Why don’t you like Tapatalk?
The OP wanted to use a forum in IE app mode, under the Metro UI paradigm. IE app mode is just a metro wrapper around a HTML page designed for non-metro use. There is presumably a reason the OP wants to stay in Metro mode instead of switching to desktop IE. If that is the case, Tapatalk is designed for metro-exclusive use and converts site-specific vBulletin UIs and skins into a unified Metro interface.
The form factor isn’t what actually matters here: “tablet” was just shorthand for “UI designed for metro”, and I’m sorry if that was ambiguous. But it’ll run on RT or 8, tablet, desktop, or laptop.
RT only runs on ARM CPU hardware. That means tablet or phone. Maybe netbook, but I believe those are a vanished breed; those that did exist were pretty much x86, so wouldn’t be RT.
However, apparently, there is a very new version of tapatalk for x86/x64, released about 10 days ago, so it turns out that your suggestion is actually viable. (If distateful to me personally… but to each his or her own.)
Of course the other options is to use 8 in Desktop mode like God intended, along with a non-losing browser. 
ETA: Silenus, if Tapatalk on your system in Metro mode appeals, it’s available at the Windows App Store.
It doesn’t really matter, since the OP specified 8 and Tapatalk is available for 8. RT isn’t even part of the discussion. But it’s good to know that RT requires a special compile (I thought that Metro uses universal binaries, but I was wrong). In any case, this is a tangent. I have a x86 Win 8 tablet, which is why I just lazily used that word, not to start a 8 vs RT debate.
The point is that Tapatalk is an alternative to IE app mode that’s worth looking at, even if the OP doesn’t ultimately adopt it for use. It’s not the best program ever but it fits certain use cases. It’s more finger-friendly and HiDPI friendly than vanilla HTML vBulletin, for example.
The app store link is what I provided; if Tapatalk didn’t exist for Windows 8, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.
FWIW, I hate Metro too and never use it, but apparently the OP likes it. IE + vBulletin is a mishmash of UI paradigms. Tapatalk is Metro all the way through.
In terms of browsers, even with this file picker bug, IE is by far the best Metro-mode browser. It is hardware accelerated, uses proper gestures, and has a distinct touch-centric interface. Chrome Touch is buggy as all hell, scales wrong on most devices, and new builds regularly break touch features because it’s such a low priority for them (and even when it works on Chromebooks, Windows touch and DPI scaling tends to fuck it up even more). And Firefox gave up on Metro altogether.
And apparently you can’t stop thinking about it as a tablet OS. (bolding mine.)
No, it’s always really easy when it comes to standards if Microsoft is involved. They are wrong. This isn’t out of some hatred for Microsoft, either. It’s just that Microsoft is always the outlier. They are the only ones who will stick to their interpretation even if everyone else is doing it differently. Both Mozilla and Google will often have bugs where they cite how the other guy is doing it to say how they should do it.
Also, for something they claim is not standard, they’ve sure been including it since at least IE6, where that option works. And they don’t limit it to Quirks mode, which is their non-standard mode.
Apparently they do try to block it for some reason, but I cannot figure out how in the world it could be used to initiate a spoofing attack. The only problem it used to have was that it could keep you from being able to close your web browser. But every other web browser has fixed that.
So, no, Mozilla is way more than technically right. Microsoft’s article is just wrong.