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javascriptoperating-systemos-detection

How to check website viewer's operating system?

I'm running Ubuntu 8.04 and I recently received the following error when visiting a website:

Please return to www.site.com with a computer running Windows 98, 2000, Me, NT, or XP.

  1. How does the website know which OS I'm running? Is it only via javascript or is there OS information in the request headers as well?

  2. Is there a way for me to bypass this check or "pretend" to be using Windows so that I can access the website even though I'm running an unsupported OS?

Solution

  • The User Agent Switcher firefox add-on enables "spoofing" of a different web browser.