IE’s 4 OSX and Linux

ies4osx.png So in my debut post I wrote about how Firefox users can have sites open automatically using IE by configuring an extension called IE Tab. Ben from the VA Association of Realtors left a comment inquiring if there is a similar solution for Mac users.

The answer is yes, it is called IEs4OSX which is simply a Mac version of IEs4Linux, which uses WINE engine to run modified versions of IE. If you are looking to run multiple windows applications consider CrossOver which uses WINE  as well. However, if all you need is to load up the occasional site in IE then this is a great solution.

Installation is simple:

  • Download the image
  • Unzip and run the installer,
  • Choose the versions of IE you want to install
  • Wait approximately 12 – 20 minutes for the install to complete

After the installer runs you will have shortcuts to the version of IE you choose in your application folder. At this time IE7 is still in beta so I would recommend installing both IE6 and IE7 if you prefer IE7.

If you run into a problem make sure you check out the IEs4Linux FAQ and the user forum both are very good and many of the solutions should apply to the Mac version as well. Please note that the WINE engine only works on Intel based macs so if your running an older G5 or below you can’t use this or CrossOver.

I am sure your next question is that is great so how do I get IE Tab working? If it is not well I am sorry for assuming if it is while I have never done this on a Mac I have however configured it on my laptop which runs Linux.

In order to get the IETab extension to work with IEs4Linux I did the following:

  • I first installed IEs4Linux 
  • Next I installed the IE Tab extension (if it gives you an error just change your user agent to windows using the user agent switcher extension). 
  • Finally open Firefox and under the Ie Tab options find the app path setting.

For my enviroment I set the app path to my usr/bin/ie6 folder which is where I had ie6 installed. I did not try this on the Mac but I imagine it should similarly work though the path will be different. If you get stuck then make sure you call Your Local Tech.

– Mark Flavin

4 Comments

  1. Ben Martin, Va Assn of REALTORS on February 22, 2008 at 8:07 am

    Thanks for the tip. Not quite as simple as adding a firefox plugin, but I’ll give it a shot.

  2. Mark Flavin on February 22, 2008 at 8:10 am

    Yea, unfortunately IE needs to be on the client machine for IE Tab to work out of the box. However, IEs4Linux and OSX is very easy to setup.

  3. Robert Luna on February 22, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    great stuff…i love it

  4. Robert on March 4, 2009 at 10:28 pm

    I couldn’t get this to work with Ubuntu. IEs4Linux works easily enough ietab is installed, and ive set the path as /home/user/.ies4linux/bin/ie6 (where user is my username) when i switch to ietab i get additional plugins are required to display all the media on this page.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply