How to Get Internet Explorer on Mac and Why You Might Need That?

Is Internet Explorer still alive? Do I need it these days if I’ve got Safari and Chrome and what for? Can I even use it on my MacBook Pro?” one may ask. You can think that using Internet Explorer (IE) is like carrying water to the sea nowadays. Do you know a lot of people who are still surfing the Web with the help of this browser? Well, it might be a surprise, but IE has a market share of over 11.99% now. Some part of it belongs to the latest version of Internet Explorer exclusively developed by Microsoft for Macs – 5.2.3. This browser’s version is compatible with Mac OS 8 and 9 but has no official support from the developer since 2005.

It’s one hell of a task to find IE 5.2.3 on the official Microsoft website – we didn’t manage to locate an active download link (if you succeed – let us know where the hack is it!). Still, you can find it all around on the specialized software database sites, for example, soft32.com, oldapps.com or softonic.com.

Another question is whether people who use Apple devices should have Internet Explorer among their applications. For example, can you imagine, say, CEO with MacBook Pro launching not Safari but IE?

Much earlier, Mac users had no access to popular plug-ins essential to browsing in different parts of the web. It was a time of war between Netscape and Internet Explorer. Those days, Apple users had to install and use Explorer just as their Windows fellows.

Luckily for many, those days are gone, and the Web is mostly bedrocked on HTML and CSS. The need for a designated plug-in has disappeared. Almost.

A significant layer of users who might need to run IE on Macs are developers, webmasters, and quality assurance experts. The most common reason why they require IE on Macs is ensuring that their HTML, CSS, and JavaScript stuff is rendered in this browser appropriately. Or that a responsive website design looks like it’s supposed to.

Apple’s proprietary browser Safari even has a special mode that makes websites think that they are being viewed via Internet Explorer. But often this trick is just not enough to run web pages as they would run in actual IE. For instance, some web pages still use too ancient codecs/plug-ins not supported by any of the known Mac OS X browsers. In this situation, the only alternative is installing Internet Explorer on a Mac. Take it easy: there is nothing modern software developers can’t do for you!

Download IE for Mac: Mission Totally Possible

“Can I download Internet Explorer for Mac OS X as I’ve got several websites I cannot access with my Safari? And, if it is possible, how to get IE on my MacBook Pro (or MacBook Air, or iMac, or any other Apple computer)?” Apple Customer Support still regularly receives questions like that.

Some people are too impatient to conduct research and find out that it is not necessary to set up the entire Windows to get all associated options on Mac. Do not hurry up to install Windows in full – there is a better, less time-consuming and confusing option on the market today!

Instead of dealing with many Microsoft products, you can simply get right what you need as a separate option from the package. Every Mac user has an opportunity to download Internet Explorer virtual machines to access the old-fashioned web resources. This technique works just fine for IE7, IE 8, IE9, IE10, and IE 11. Achieving the same result with the help of a special application is another way.

3 Ways to Install Internet Explorer on Mac

As it was mentioned above, changing the User Agent in Safari to Internet Explorer does not always help, so the question is still relevant – “Can you view the websites written with the help of the outdated codes?” In fact, even the majority of Microsoft personal computers’ owners do not use IE any longer, so what can we say about, for example, Apple MacBook Pro users?

However, Microsoft has recently released a unique instrument – RemoteIE – to make it possible to launch Internet Explorer on all types of Mac OS X, iOS, and Android devices. It can prevent the user from installing the entire Windows or virtual machine. In other words, you download and set up IE on your Apple computers directly.

As mentioned above, the version 5.2.3 is outdated while the browser itself is no longer supported since 2005. Thus, if a Mac owner wishes to install and use one of the most recent versions of Internet Explorer, he/she should get various extra programs or platforms to launch Windows software on Mac.

To explain how to install Internet Explorer on Mac, it is necessary to recall three categories of possible methods:

Dual boot Windows & Mac (Boot Camp);
Virtualization;
Wine.

The first method is a nuisance as it requires permanent rebooting to switch between operating systems. Among virtualization techniques, it is possible to recall Parallels, VMWare, and VirtualBox. These instruments allow running once popular Microsoft browser as well as other Windows applications directly atop OS X. However, you may find some of these solutions quite expensive and slowing macOS down. The third approach may be considered the optimal as of today as it doesn’t require Windows installation and is simpler than the other two.

Discover How to Run Internet Explorer on Mac Using Different Methods

Now that you have discovered where to download and install IE, it is time to discuss how to run it on Mac. Let’s say, you have chosen the third option, which is Wine. It ‘bottles’ different Windows tools into launchable .app files that are stored in the Applications folder along with other Apple utilities. The process is simple: you get Wine and run Internet Explorer (version 6 and up) through this tool.

If you choose the second option, virtualization, you should learn how to deal with things like VirtualBox and Parallels. You may also run Windows on Mac via Boot Camp if your Mac is compatible.

It is easy to download and set up VirtualBox as well. You will need to apply Terminal to launch Internet Explorer using this method.

Those are various ways to install Internet Explorer on Mac. You may find more detailed instructions in the offered guides below.

Run Windows on Mac via Boot Camp

Do you need another OS running along with your macOS? Set up and use a free utility called Boot Camp to have Windows on Apple computer – it’s quite easy

How to Run .exe Files on Mac with WineBottler?

Do .exe files work on Mac? Learn how to install and use WineBottler to run Windows .exe programs and games on Mac without installing second OS.

Run Safari as Internet Explorer

You can run Safari as Internet Explorer to view websites with the tricky codecs or plugins without having to install any additional software on your Mac OS.

How to Install VirtualBox on Mac?

Run any OS with VirtualBox on macOS. Read the VirtualBox tutorial for Mac computers to find out the benefits of hypervisor software.

Are you still hesitating whether to get the browser on your Apple computer or not? We can make it easier for you! Here are some pros & cons of using Internet Explorer on a Mac:

Pros:

Free of charge;
Test website in Internet Explorer on Mac;
Reached all nations with the internet connectivity;
Supports a broad array of apps;
Zone-based protection framework and some other security measures;
A peculiar cache of attended pages to let them load faster.

Cons:

The absence of add-on support;
Offers fewer extensions and plug-ins;
Works extremely slowly on Macs;
Fails to display some websites correctly on Apple devices;
Limited customization of the interface;
The increased threat of scam and phishing attacks;
Not really good at dealing with CSS-based websites.

For whatever reason you needed Microsoft’s browser, we hope our guide on how to run Internet Explorer on Mac comes in handy for you!

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