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  If you want to know what the Mac Friendly section is all about, check out this page. You can also add provide information about your experiences by completing this form.
It isn't uncommon to receive emails in response to the posting of a new "Mac Friendly" article. Usually the emails will try and jump to the defence of the company or service mentoned....but in the case of Xtra, the emails have been to support the previously received bad reports. On the latest inspection of Xtra's pages, it is clear that their Mac support is so appalling and dated (with references to OS 8.6 on some of their main pages, and blank pages in other locations) that as one of New Zealand's largest ISPs, not only are they deserved of being in the Mac Friendly "Hall of Shame", their Help pages are some of the most appalling to be viewed for some time.
The main help page of the Xtra site doesn't mention Macs anywhere. However, if you go into a section under "Help and Support" such as "Connection settings" then you'll find there is a section for the Macintosh...only, it's completely blank!
Firstly, let's imagine that you aren't an Xtra user to start with. Your decide to look at the site and the Help section to see if you can use Xtra on your Mac. One of the things that you might decide to do is look at the FAQ section. Only problem? There isn't a single mention of Macs or Apple computers anywhere on that page or in any of the answers....to important aspects of net use such as...
- Questions about Yahoo!Xtra
- New Yahoo!Xtra Pro Mail Settings
- Xtra Help Assistant
- Questions about Broadband speed
- Xtra Broadband plan changes
- Audio and video
- Broadband
- Wireless Broadband
- Modems
- ...etc etc
With reference to OS 8.6 and 68K machines, Xtra is showing their age and providing appalling web-based help to Mac users Unless you were to hunt for the connection setting page, you're likely to assume that Xtra isn't Mac friendly at all....and you're probably not that wrong at this point in time.
Track down what they say are the minimum requirements for a Mac (hidden away on a sub-level) and look what you find....
- RAM Memory.
- What version of Mac Operating System (Mac OS) is installed.
- Free space on the Hard Drive.
- Type of processor (68k or PowerPC series).
Scroll down that page...I dare you....and find out the most recent operating system mentioned on the page for Mac users...OS 8.6 !!!!!!!!! What the?! OS 8.6 was released in May....1999 !!!
Previously some 18 months ago we received a submission suggesting that Xtra had a dedicated Mac staff member, however this is easily raised into question by the content on the site and one of the latest submissions...
"When I joined our family up with Xtra, about a year and a half ago (we are no longer with them), they seemed to have absolutely no-one on their staff who was able to provide any kind of mac specific technical assistance. The general staff I talked to were completely ignorant as to OS X, and were not able to be much help. I also did find that the mac specific pages on the website were quite outdated.
I note that more recently, Xtra have now introduced a 'Help Assistant' Program, available as a free download, which sounds like a good idea, but if you click on the download though... oops 'XtraHelpAssistant.exe' [a Windows only program]. Not very helpful."
A new submission suggests that your chances of getting help may be a hit or miss affair....
I have used Xtra for many years. As mentioned in your article about Xtra, initially they did have a help desk for Mac users. This now seems to have gone. I experienced problems with receiving and then sending email from the Apple Mail app. On my first call (after a 10 minute wait) I spoke for 15 minutes to a lady who seemingly knew only the basics about computers, never mind an iMac. She then passed me on to a technician who knew little about iMacs. I gave up in frustration. The next day I decided on one last try. Hurray! I got a lady who has an iMac and knew exactly what to do. Problem solved in a few minutes.
Another user states....
"a) interminable waits with less than adequately knowledgeable staff. Rare to get a Mac conversant person.
b) The main page tells me that my browser is not supported! I use Safari!
c) Absolutely, they should be Mac friendly. Though I can understand why they spend most of their time and need expertise to deal with PC using customers."
The fact that their FAQ section is so unfriendly to Mac users is concerning. It has been noted in other Mac Friendly areas that we cannot expect support for Safari for all systems, but with no mention of Macs in response to some basic questions, you are left to go back to the Mac section under "Connection settings" to feel comforted.
[Update December 12, 2007] - The pages mentioned previously cannot be now criticised for being out of date...they can be criticised for being completely empty!
This is an absolute mess! And shows that Xtra hasn't taken the time to check that the information they have provided is accurate or even available. Instructions previously appeared to be a mishmash of confusing OS 9 and OS X comments that don't ever quite make sense. With reference to OS 8.6 and 68K machines, Xtra is showing their age and providing appalling web-based help to Mac users.
As one user comments....
"Which version of OSX has an 'Internet' option in the preference pane? I don't remember that being in Panther (although it may have been), and it certainly isn't in Tiger And they are telling people to use Outlook Express? No mention of mail. And likewise, the article says to set Internet Explorer as the default browser for OSX.
Perhaps more shockingly, when I click on the link in that article, for more information on browser support, it only lists IE, and NETSCAPE! Not only is there no mention of Safari, there is no mention of Firefox, or any of it's cousins either!"
Conclusion
Xtra deserves to be in the "Hall of Shame" given how big an organisation they are (1 in 7 New Zealander's use their service TV3 claimed recently), whilst providing the most out-of-date and confusing instructions seen for some time. Shame is only a small part of what they should feel for their support pages.
Given how much money Xtra makes from the New Zealand public, I see no reason why some funds could not be spent on improving this section and making it up-to-date, accurate and useful for Mac users countywide. With a little effort (and maybe some screen shots?) they could easily be proud of the Mac support that they provide.
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