Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Stupid Website uses only Internet Explorer.
- Thread starter Jasonkrick
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I can't believe there's an active website in the whole world that will only work with IE.
But... if you're newish to Mac you *will* find that there are websites out there which are pretty much unviewable/unusable with Safari. I'd suggest downloading Firefox to use as a back-up browser. Would avoid Google Chrome because, being from Google, it puts crud all over your computer.
But... if you're newish to Mac you *will* find that there are websites out there which are pretty much unviewable/unusable with Safari. I'd suggest downloading Firefox to use as a back-up browser. Would avoid Google Chrome because, being from Google, it puts crud all over your computer.
The simplest and only thing to try is to cheat the webserver and pretend to be IE.
If you enable Developer menu in Safari, you can change the user agent Safari reports to webserver:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4067505
If you enable Developer menu in Safari, you can change the user agent Safari reports to webserver:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4067505
The only one I've ever come across was the Walmart job application site that only works on IE or Netscape. And that was in 2012.
I use Chrome rather than Safari, so I haven't run into too many issues of being unable to open a site.
Most of the small commercial world is not IE dependent, but there are some corporate internal tools or government stuffs that are very IE centric and require IE specific features. That's why it took so long to get rid of IE 6.
If the OP is in that category, might have to just go the long route and install a virtual Windows in Parallel or VirtualBox to get the authentic IE.
If the OP is in that category, might have to just go the long route and install a virtual Windows in Parallel or VirtualBox to get the authentic IE.
Chrome doesn't install any crud, but Chrome is an awful resource hog that lags and drains so much battery.
I know about it's high power usage, I want to know about the "crud" claim (which I highly doubt exists).
Nope, Chrome doesn't install any crud though. But knowing Google, they could have slipped something inside the Mac the backdoor way during installation so that they can read your private stuff to target ads at you.
I'm pretty sure the media would have a field day if this was found, and I don't think google would risk losing so many peoples trust, and all the code in chrome is open source in the chromium project so it's not like chrome is is this mystery code on everyone's PC's
I mean, the Chrome installer could've put something into the Mac surreptitiously
It's the installer, not the browser itself
Well, if the site uses ActiveX heavily then it won't work anywhere but IE. Best way is to just run a VM or follow the instructions on this page to install IE6 in OS X.
http://m.wikihow.com/Install-Internet-Explorer-on-Mac-Using-WineBottler
http://m.wikihow.com/Install-Internet-Explorer-on-Mac-Using-WineBottler
Only thing I've noticed is the notifications they added, which involved editing chrome://flags to remove (wasn't impressed by that). Aside from that and it being "juicy" haven't noted anything else untoward. But adding notifications without asking and then not providing an obvious way to disable left a sour taste, I must admit :/
Pah, you people want me to substantiate my totally unsubstantiated comments?!?
Erm... I've no idea what Chrome actually installs, but I do recall there was a persistent Chrome updater/installer .dmg that a) kept magically reinstalling itself and b) magically mounting itself. I'm sure none of it is remotely malign or compromising, but I didn't like the intrusion.
I mean, the Chrome installer could've put something into the Mac surreptitiously
It's the installer, not the browser itself
Chrome has flash sandboxed, so I have it installed In those rare times I need flash, that way I don't have to have flash installed on my mac.
You think most folks have not already lost their trust? Just about everyone I know tries to avoid them. Unfortunately Google has become scum bags in the sense they sell their souls for the marketing dollar as well as info they gather from us surreptitiously.
There are many of us that have lost all trust in Google.
Last edited:
Stupid Website uses only Internet Explorer.
That's Chrome updating itself automatically. It totally fine, other apps do the same thing.
That's Chrome updating itself automatically. It totally fine, other apps do the same thing.
As has been pointed out, it is easy to come across IE only pages on business or government related websites. Just imagine if it was the Visa application site of a country you want to visit, or some job application site, or the site you have to use to sign up for electricity in your new neighbourhood.
Therefore, I find it a bit sad that the useful information here is obscured by a pointless Chrome vs. Firefox vs. Google is bad debate.
Possible steps to take for IE only websites:
1. Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc). This is mostly useful when the problem is related to the site not being displayed properly.
2. Make your browser identify as IE. This is possible by checking the "Show Develop menu" option in Preferences > Advanced, then clicking on "Develop" in the menu and selecting IE as "User Agent"
3. Run Windows in a Virtual Machine.
3a. It might be possible to use Wine (or one of its packaged versions e.g. Winebottler, Playonmac, Crossover Mac) to get IE to run on the Mac.
Therefore, I find it a bit sad that the useful information here is obscured by a pointless Chrome vs. Firefox vs. Google is bad debate.
Possible steps to take for IE only websites:
1. Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, etc). This is mostly useful when the problem is related to the site not being displayed properly.
2. Make your browser identify as IE. This is possible by checking the "Show Develop menu" option in Preferences > Advanced, then clicking on "Develop" in the menu and selecting IE as "User Agent"
3. Run Windows in a Virtual Machine.
3a. It might be possible to use Wine (or one of its packaged versions e.g. Winebottler, Playonmac, Crossover Mac) to get IE to run on the Mac.
Very true, sometimes it's a necessary evil
That said, if the website in question is something you only need to access once, and requires an actual IE such that options 1) and 2) do not work, one might just head to the nearest library or borrow a Windows computer in some other way instead of trying to set up entire virtual machines or wrestle with Wine (I have many painful memories from using that software, wouldn't recommend it to an enemy
).
I mean, the Chrome installer could've put something into the Mac surreptitiously
It's the installer, not the browser itself
Good point, and a reminder that when you say 'yes' to an installer, you're giving it permission to have its way with your system in any fashion it likes.
But I am not aware of Google doing this with Chrome (except, as others have noted, with its own auto-updates... which are a great feature).
Surreptitiously installing "crud" would be a good way of inviting holy hell from among the user community... do you have knowledge of any reports of such?
Until some other developer analyzes the code of the Chrome installer and what it does, we won't know what the Chrome installer really does
I've already apologised for claiming there's 'crud', phositadc, although any application which requires you do this in order to turn off auto-update, and which intermittently mounts update-related disk images, is in itself pretty cruddy.