HELP! I can't believe I NEED a copy of I.E...hate it!

[faithfulFrank]

Hello all,
For the past 5 years we have been a totally mac family, and have 4 macs. My son just started college, and has a G4 powerbook.
He needs to take a math class what uses online homework, tests, etc, using a program called Mymathlab.
It is a backward program that he had to pay $65.00 for to get his access code. We find out that you can ONLY use Internet explorer. Not firefox, not Safari, nothing but Microsoft's I.E.

When I called, they basically said that they are working on making it work for Macs, but are at least a year away.

So, how can I get a old copy of I.E. 5 for Macs?? I tried to download it from c/net, and it did not work. Microsoft also says it no longer let's you download it.

I do not want to buy Virtual PC.....what do I do??

I'm so angry that I am punished for owning a Mac, I could spit nails......I love my mac and will not go back to the windoze world....how can I get I.E. for mac??

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[Applespider]

This popped up in a Google search - it worked a week or so ago when I pointed it out to someone else. Slow as sludge though

 

[faithfulFrank]

Actually,
I've been working more at it, and was able to download I.E for mac 5.2.3
and the math lab still does not work.......it actually says you cannot use a mac O.S. and that you NEED to use windows XP.

I'm so angry. I think my son's only option is to only use the schools crappy PeeCee's for this class. It is just not right.

Frank D.

 

[Benedictus-x]

crossover mac may work, but it may be intel only

 

[Nugget]

Talk to friends and family and see if you can snag someone's cast-off Win2K or XP box. In my circle of friends and family, at least, there's always someone upgrading or whose company is throwing away a pile of three year old machines that can no longer keep up. Grab one and set it up running under your desk or in a closet somewhere. No need to hook a keyboard or display up to it.

Use Microsoft Remote Desktop Client to connect to it over your network and use it that way whenever you need IE. That's how I run Quicken and do occasional IE site compatibility testing. It's way less annoying that Virtual PC or VMware/Parallels. The box doesn't need to be fast or impressive to be useful for that sort of thing.

 

[faithfulFrank]

Thanks Nugget,
I'll keep my eyes open.....I"ve passed up dozens.....almost hate to let people know i want a windoze computer, they all know I'm a mac guy. The first thing they will say is, "What's the matter, can't do something on a Mac?? Told you that you shouldn't have switched!.........Oh well.....

Frank D.

 

[MacsRgr8]

I feel for you, faithfulFrank.

The site probably uses ActiveX, which can only be used running Windows, and more often than not also need IE 6 or later for Win2K.

Two thorns in the Mac-lover's side:
DirectX and ActiveX.

You can get around DirectX by simply not playing those games, or get an Intel Mac and run Boot Camp. But getting around ActiveX is much tougher.... on a PPC Mac you'll need something like Virtual PC.
Try to get hold of an older copy (version 6 will do best), and install only WinXP if you actually must. Win2K will feel alot faster.

 

[Nugget]

Eh, just tell them that you want to put Linux on it.

 

[dcv]

You can find copies of most old browsers at browsers.evolt.org

Try this link for IE5 Mac

 

[faithfulFrank]

Thanks DCV,
I did find (and downloaded) I.E. 5, but it says it needs I.E. 6 and Windows to work.

I'm thinking of buying Virtual PC for Mac....there are some used copies on ebay since people are switching to intel macs, they are selling their old software. If a person bought Virtual PC and registered it with Microsoft, then sold it on ebay, could the new owner use it? Could they install it and would it work?

Man, this is a pain.

Frank D.

 

[NightLord]

Might I suggest you use GuestPC? It's cheaper and works just as well as VirtualPC.

Also, I'd suggest you run Windows 98 SE2 using it. It can run IE6 and is actually quite usuable in GuestPC (Well, it was on my mac mini when I tried it)

 

[JYF]

I did find (and downloaded) I.E. 5, but it says it needs I.E. 6 and Windows to work.

Have you tried to "emulate" IE-Win using the hidden "Debug" menu in Safari ?
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030110063041629
Sometimes it works.

 

[mward333]

Faithful Frank,

Sorry to hear about your IE troubles. I'm a professor (Ph.D. in Mathematics, working in Statistics now), and even I run into these types of issues on my Mac Pro from time to time. Ugh. It can be terrible. I don't want to use Bootcamp or anything fancy to run Windows apps on my Mac Pro.

Sometimes it is easier, in the end, to just find a local PC and use it for those rare things (like your son's online tests and homework) that use a PC. For instance, we have a PC lab across the hall from my office, and occasionally I just bury my pride and go over there to run the few applications that will absolutely not work on my Mac Pro.

Good luck.... just my two cents. Again, I'm really sorry to hear about your troubles, and I can certainly identify with them.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Thanks Nugget,
I'll keep my eyes open.....I"ve passed up dozens.....almost hate to let people know i want a windoze computer, they all know I'm a mac guy. The first thing they will say is, "What's the matter, can't do something on a Mac?? Told you that you shouldn't have switched!.........Oh well.....

Frank D.

Sometimes you have the bite the bullet and do things you do not want to do. Who cares what people know you as. If they're intelligent people they'll understand you have to do what you have to do. More importantly in my opinion a child's education trumps what my friends may think of me.

I would suggest finding an old laptop or something so that he has access to it when the labs and libraries aren't open and pray that he isn't a math major.

 

[mward333]

Sometimes you have the bite the bullet and do things you do not want to do. Who cares what people know you as. If they're intelligent people they'll understand you have to do what you have to do. More importantly in my opinion a child's education trumps what my friends may think of me.

I would suggest finding an old laptop or something so that he has access to it when the labs and libraries aren't open and pray that he isn't a math major.

If he is a math major, then he won't be doing silly online homework and testing for long. He will be using Maple, Mathematica, or Matlab, depending on the nature of the class and the college he attends. So no worries there.... All 3 run great on a Mac now-a-days.

For the introductory courses, the Windoze programs that Faithful Frank mentioned are just a fact of life at many universities. Ugh. Jessica's suggestion of an inexpensive Windoze laptop is a good idea! You can often pick up a cheap but somewhat reliable Windoze laptop for very little money. I know it's a pain, but just chalk it up to the increasingly-expensive costs of attending college. Yuck.

As a professor, I would like to say it's worth it in the end... and I hope that it is!

 

[The Stig]

That sucks but his best choice is to get a cheap PC. It is sad but true.

The Stig

 

[rjphoto]

For the past 5 years we have been a totally mac family, and have 4 macs. My son just started college, and has a G4 powerbook.
So, how can I get a old copy of I.E. 5 for Macs?? I tried to download it from c/net, and it did not work. Microsoft also says it no longer let's you download it.

I do not want to buy Virtual PC.....what do I do??

Sounds like my house, too.

I was dealing with the same problem at work yesterday...luckily it was on a MacBook Pro and the Doc has Paralells that I'm going to install today.

I like Nugget's idea of running Microsoft Remote Desktop Client (it's Free). I use it at work to access my PC from anywhere in the system via WiFi (Even from across town. It's a BIG network.) and it works fine. I even use it to run PhotoShop CS2.

My son's decided he wanted a new computer for graduation and saved up his graduation gift money and bought a MacBook (a few weeks before the back to school deal came out...I tried to tell him to wait.) I'm going to share this trick with him just in case he runs into the same problem.

 

[faithfulFrank]

Well, right now I'm going between buying Virtual PC version 7 and just having him go to the lab to do his stuff.......it may enforce a better study habit.

Ironically, I ran into the same type of problem today.......and the constant is that it is from the same company! I'm a NYS EMS instructor, and I thought I'd install a EMT instructor pack on my powerbook. It says right on there it is for Mac OSX or Windows.

I tried to install it, and it automatically tried to boot into classic mode. My powerbook says that I did not have a file for classic, and that I had to do something in system preferences to have classic. I tried, but could not figure it out.

I then decided it was not worth it to have this on my computer, and I would just use the laptops from the firehouse. What irks me is that I looked at the company, and it is Prentice Hall.........same company that makes the software my son has for his math class........go figure!

It seems wrong that they would say on the CD that OSX would work, only to find out it is only with classic.....and I think that the newer intel macs don't even do classic...(I think). Very poor company that seems to have a big piece of the educational pie. Sad.

Frank D.

 

[jczubach]

Use IEoiks!!! change his major. The Mac cannot be compromised.Bill is not the devil, just feels that way when you are forced to use his programs. All Hail Steve.