Javascript blur() command in IE8 on Vista doesnt work

Question

I have a project that pops up a window with a message for the user. It is displayed for 10 seconds and then is sent to the background using the javascript "self.blur()" command. I dont want to close it as it has information that the user might need to see agian.

This currently works for IE7/IE8/FF2/FF3 on windows XP, but on Vista it does not work for IE8. I have found that if I disable 'Protected Mode' for IE8 on Vista, the blur() command works and the window correctly returns focus to the parent window.

Does anyone know exactly why this is happening and what can be done to get around it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

How are you writing to the window? What is the initial source of the window -- about:blank? This may make a difference. Also, if you're loading the web page from localhost, try running it from a "real" domain.

And a suggestion: try a lightbox or some other form of DHTML "layer". They've very easy to create with the various libraries available today; not only will this tactic get around the problem you're having, it improves the experience. Probably a bigger change than you'd really like, but oh so much better in the long run.