End of Support for Windows XP and IE8 on June 1
JHSPH Information Technology announced that they are ending official support for the Windows XP operating system next summer. Windows XP will no longer be supported in any way by Microsoft in January, 2014, and JHSPH Information Technology is encouraging everyone within the JHSPH community to upgrade to Windows 7 at their earliest convenience.
Internet Explorer 8 is the default browser on the most recent verison of Windows XP, and with the end of Windows XP support, Internet Explorer 8 will no longer be supported within CoursePlus and online courses. The "Computing Requirements for JHSPH eLearning Sites" page which governs support for CoursePlus and online courses at JHSPH has not listed Internet Explorer 8 as a supported web browser since January 2012, even though some students, faculty, and staff still use that browser. When support for Internet Explorer 8 ends on June 1, 2013, you will no longer be able to sign in to either CoursePlus or online courses with Internet Explorer 8.
(You should also be aware that Google dropped support for Internet Explorer 8 in Google Apps (incuding Docs/Drive) on November 15, 2012.)
If you do not upgrade your operating system from Windows XP by June, 2013, you can still use Google Chrome or Firefox to access online courses and CoursePlus. However, given that Microsoft is officially ending support for Windows XP in January, 2014, it is doubtful that Chrome or Firefox will be updated indefinitely for the Windows XP operating system.
This transition is still many months away, but it is important that you are aware of this upcoming change so you can prepare accordingly.