I’ve been trying to install some government software so that I can do business online with the Australian Taxation Office (just basic stuff, nothing complicated).
The software, however, is a huge pain in the arse. First, it requires me to set IE6+ or NS7.1 as my default browser. Now, I have both installed, but I definitely don’t want either set as my default. Unfortunately, the software apparently won’t install without that. Grrr.
Next, it requires Java. Well, I have Java installed, naturally, but when I go to get the digital certificate thingy it says that the Java isn’t compatible. Turns out that the latest version (Java 1.5) isn’t compatible. You have to use an OLDER version. Double grrr.
So now I’ve just uninstalled all my Java installations and I’m going to have to reboot so that I can install an OLDER version of my software, just so that I can go online and look up my tax file number and other mundane stuff.
I swear, government software is as bad as government paperwork!
[EDIT] After much frustration and reinstallation and so forth, I never did get it to work. I finally just called them and got my Tax File Number, and I’ll proceed from there. Bleah.
