Where to Find Internet Explorer for Mac

Written by: Christian Cawley • Edited by: Michael Dougherty
Updated May 16, 2011 • Related Guides: Mac Os X | Safari | Internet Explorer

There are several reasons why you might use Internet Explorer for Mac, from visiting old websites or using an old version of Mac OS to designing website that need to be compatible with older browsers.

Internet Explorer? But I Use Safari!

Brighthub.com viewed in Internet Explorer for Mac

click to enlarge

Apple Macs all come with a superb browser – Safari, a beautiful, resource-light way to browse the Internet. With so many browsers on offer across all computing platforms, however, it should come as no surprise to find that Microsoft Internet Explorer is available for Mac computers. After all, Safari is available for Windows!

But hang on - why would any Mac user take the time to download and install Internet Explorer? After all, this is a browser for PCs – a browser with quite a bad reputation.

The truth is, there are plenty of Mac users still on old versions of the operating system. Internet Explorer: mac was first released in 1998 as part of an agreement between Microsoft and Apple, and included on all OSX releases up to 10.4 Tiger in 2005. Meanwhile, if you have an interest in designing websites, seeing how your site looks through this older browser can improve your efforts to attain a good level of general accessibility.

As such, there are plenty of reasons why you might want to download Internet Explorer for Mac.

Where to Download Internet Explorer for Mac

Before you install and setup Internet Explorer on your Mac, you will need to find the best version for your OS – not an easy task.

A great place to start is mac.oldapps.com – use the search tool to find the various copies of Internet Explorer and choose which version you wish to download. Have a good look at each version available, as they all have different features and requirements.

For instance, Internet Explorer 5.2.3 is 6.8 MB in size – suitable for Mac OS 10.1.5 and later on any PowerPC Macs, and even has an Auction Manager feature to track eBay auctions.

Installing Internet Explorer for Mac

Download Internet Explorer for Mac - and install!

click to enlarge

The Internet Explorer application downloads as a PKG installer file on the Mac and installation involves following the onscreen instructions and installing to your preferred location.

To run the application, go to Finder and press SHIFT + CMD + A to launch the Applications view – Internet Explorer will be listed, so just double click to run, and add the application to your Dock.

Upon launching the browser, you will be asked if you want to set Internet Explorer as your default browser – if you’re happy with Safari, you should choose No here.

Benefits of Running Internet Explorer on a Mac

Given that on an Apple Mac, Internet Explorer is based on Internet Explorer 5 and its various quirks, you will probably find that many websites will not render well using this version of the browser.

There is of course a key benefit here, explained above – the browser can be used to ensure that any new websites that you might build design are able to be viewed using older browsers. The article Why Should I Use Web Standards will explain more about this.

While Internet Explorer for Mac isn’t widely used, the fact that it is available for download means that it remains useful.

References

Author's own experience.
Screenshots by author.
OldApps.com, http://mac.oldapps.com.