During a recent project, I was helping a client debug an issue with one of their users that was piloting an InfoPath form we developed. This user was having some very strange issues with the form - not all the fields were running their validation, some rules weren’t firing, custom submit screens sometimes needed to be refreshed, etc.
We first eliminated any network or permissions issues that may be causing it. Switching to a different PC worked, so we focused on the environment of the PC in question. As it turns out, someone had installed a few questionable toolbars and search engines and a few other items in the Add/Remove programs that looked suspect. Since this was supposed to be a standard-issue corporate desktop, it was easy for us to uninstall all the programs that were not standard issue and remove the suspect search engines from Internet Explorer. After restarting Internet Explorer, everything worked.
Always keep in mind that SharePoint performance and usability can depend a lot on the client-side configuration: Their connection to the web server, the version of the operating system they are using, the browser they are running and the version of Office they have installed can all affect the application and the experience of the end user.
I recommend you publish a matrix and train your users on what client-side configurations you will support with your implementation of SharePoint. This matrix should include at a minimum: The list browser(s) and versions, the list of operating system(s) and version(s) of Office. If your site supports mobile access, you’ll need to include those devices in your matrix as well.
Originally posted on the Project Leadership blog at http://www.projectleadership.net/blogs_details.php?id=3097 - the original post is no longer available.
