I am a Linux user, why would I need Internet Explorer?

Written by: Arvind Arora • Edited by: Michele McDonough
Published Dec 8, 2008 • Related Guides: Firefox | Internet Explorer | Linux

Avid Linux fans usually prefer not to use any commercial application, and Internet Explorer is no exception. Still, it might be really helpful if you install it on your Linux based system. Want to know why? Read on.

Internet Explorer and Linux Users

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Internet Explorer, the web browser by Microsoft, has for a long period held the position of being the most popular browser worldwide. Although it is still an issue to be debated whether Mozilla Firefox has left it behind as is being claimed by some of the latest statistics, there are still a large number of diehard Internet Explorer fans who simply love it.

Mozilla Firefox, as we know, is a web browser that has been developed as open source, and that is one reason it is a favorite of most users of Linux, which is an open source operating system. Still, there are times when Linux users also need Internet Explorer due to one reason or another. What makes them look forward to using Internet Explorer to browse the web on Linux? Let' see.

Advantages of Using Internet Explorer on a Linux Based System

Web Page Compatibility: A huge number of web pages exist on innumerable servers spread worldwide, collectively forming the World Wide Web. Most of these web pages had been designed (and are still being designed) keeping Internet Explorer in mind, as it has enjoyed, for a long time, the reputation of being the most common web browser available to the Windows based users across the globe since the advent of the Internet. Hence, even if you are an avid Linux user, browsing through Internet Explorer ensures you that you will be able to see most of the web pages the way they were meant to be viewed by you.
Fast Loading: After booting up your system, Internet Explorer has been experienced to be one of the fastest loading web browsers by a majority of Internet users in comparison to other browsers, especially Firefox and Opera. Although FireFox fans claim it is because Internet Explorer is automatically loaded when Windows loads on the system, 'speed' is the word that all the net users are most crazy about. Aren't you?
Support for Microsoft WEFT embedded fonts for pages in non-English languages: As English (Roman) alphabets construct the native language for computers, the web pages with non-English text have been using Microsoft's WEFT (Web Embedded Font Technology) for many years This was the only way to design and view web sites in Non-English languages, like Indian and Asian languages, until the Unicode platform was adopted by Windows in the late 90s. A large number of portals in these languages that had been established before that still bank upon this technology because of incompatibility issues with their older archive. Unfortunately, text with fonts embedded through WEFT is only rendered by Internet Explorer as it is the native browser of Microsoft. Hence, many people have to 'stick' to Internet Explorer, whether they like it or not.
HTML Editor: While working in Internet Explorer, you can view the source code of the current web page and even edit its content in Notepad or any other HTML Editor of your choice. While FireFox lets you view the source code, it doesn't let you edit or modify it. To do that, you have to go the long way by copying all the code and pasting it in your editor.
Virus Risk: As FireFox is open source, hackers and programmers with malicious intent can know the details about how various virus attacks can harm FireFox, after the virus attacks are fixed in the new version. Hence, the people using the older versions of FireFox are at quite a big risk of falling prey to the newer and stronger attacks.