Long before Safari was released in 2003, Internet Explorer was the default web browser for Mac. But as Safari took its place, Microsoft discontinued any support for Internet Explorer/Edge from 2005 onwards. Due to this getting IE or newer Microsoft Edge on macOS higher than 10.6 is difficult.
This means you won’t find IE for Mac unless you run Snow Leopard. And if you try searching you might end up with Safari, the patented browser.
So, this is what happened to IE on Mac. However, if you still want to use IE or the latest Edge browser, you’re at the right place. This article is about getting Internet Explorer for Mac.
“As of the November 2020 (build 16.43) update for Microsoft 365 for Mac or Office 2019 for Mac, macOS 10.14 Mojave or later is required to receive updates to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook. Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7 x64 Edition (KB2817183) This update addresses the vulnerability discussed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS13-028. To find out if other security updates are available for you, see the Additional Information section at the bottom of this page. The thing is, Apple introduced its own proprietary browser known as Safari back in 2003 and Microsoft decided to end its development for Mac shortly after that. Interestingly, Internet Explorer used to be the default browser on all MacBooks before then. This implies that. Microsoft never rolled out an official Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge for the macOS platform. You can use Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and nearly all the best browsers out there, but.
How to get Internet Explorer for Mac?
Although launching Internet Explore natively on Mac isn’t possible, but there are ways to simulate IE on Mac.
For those who develop apps and web-based technology, it can be useful and of assistance to see how the application or web design work on Safari, IE, and other web browsers. Thankfully, without risking Mac security, there’s an easy way to do get IE on Mac. To do so, follow the steps below.
Steps to Simulate Internet Explorer on Mac
1. Launch Safari
2. Click Safari from menu bar > Preferences.
3. Choose the Advanced tab from the new window that opens.
4. Here check the box next to Develop menu in the menu bar.
5. This will give you access to the Develop menu and the tools.
6. Click Develop from the menu bar > User Agent.
7. This will show you a context menu from where you can select the latest version of IE, i.e. Microsoft Edge and other web browsers.
8. Once, you do so the website you are accessing will automatically be refreshed and reflected in the browse of your choice. In this case, it will be the Microsoft Edge browser.
9. Afterward, you can switch back to Safari if you want.
But if you want a permanent fix, i.e. that you want to launch Internet Explorer, you can do so with the help of a virtual machine-like VMware Fusion and others.
VMware Fusion has a Windows license, and it allows creating Microsoft environment on Mac quickly. Once you have it, you can easily download and use Internet Explorer.
But before that, you need to make sure that your Mac is not cluttered and is running at its peak performance. Suppose you don’t know how to do, again nothing to worry. Systweak always has a solution to your problems.
To help overcome such unforeseen situations and to boost Mac performance, Systweak has developed a fantastic tool called TuneUpMyMac. As the name explains, this powerful Mac optimizer helps declutter your Mac, remove junk files, old downloads, detect old downloads, broken cache, and a lot more.
Using it is very simple. To learn how to use this best Mac optimizer and clean your Mac, follow the steps below:
1. Download TuneUpMyMac (for Free)
2. Click Start System Scan button present on the Home screen and wait for the process to finish.
3. After the system has been scanned, you will get scan results divided into categories.
4. Before clicking Clean Now, to get details about each scan area, click them one by one.
5. Once you are sure you want to delete, detected errors, click Clean Now.
In addition to this, you can use each module separately and clean all junk and redundant data stored on your Mac. Not only this, under Optimization, you also get the option to scan for duplicates, uninstall unwanted apps and the leftovers, manage startup items the most common reason for the slow startup, and do a lot more.
To see how well this tool performs, you will need to download, install, and run the tool.
Now, that we have an optimized Mac machine, it’s time to get a virtual machine on your Mac.
How to run Internet Explorer when using Virtual Machine on Mac
Using a virtual machine just to use Internet Explorer is not a great option. But those who just want to use IE or need to know how it is done here it is.
A virtual machine helps install a full copy of any operating system and its apps. It looks just like the real machine. From there, you can access Internet Explorer and other Windows tools.
To set up a virtual machine, you need to buy a license for virtual machine software. For instance VMware Fusion. Once you have that in place, follow the steps below:
Note: There are downsides to this solution:
1. You’ll need to purchase an additional license of VMware Fusion and Windows operating system.
2. Virtual machines are heavy; this means when you will use it, you might see a performance drop on your Mac.
3. Download both VMware Fusion and the Windows ISO file
4. Launch VMware Fusion
5. Select “Create a new custom virtual machine.”
6. Either add the Windows ISO file or drag & drop it > Finish.
7. Again launch the virtual machine and hit the play icon to setup Windows.
Now every time you feel like using Internet Explorer or New Microsoft Edge on Mac, launch the virtual machine and use your favorite browser.
So, this is it. Using either Developer mode or the virtual machine you can get Internet Explorer on Mac and enjoy using it.
But remember virtual machines can slow down and clutter your Mac. Therefore, you should keep it optimized and free from junk files. For this, you can use TuneUpMyMac. This robust mac optimizer knows where to look for junk files and how to clear them safely without harming any of the important files. Not only this, using the Internet Privacy module, but you can also quickly delete cache, cookies from third-party browsers.
We hope you enjoyed reading the post. Do leave us your comment and to stay tuned connect on our YouTube channel and join our social media handles.
Microsoft and Apple are no longer the fierce rivals they used to be and, in fact, the two companies are now even collaborating on a series of projects supposed to make their products work better one with another.
But there was a time when many considered Microsoft and Apple the biggest enemies in the tech industry, not only because of the history between the two, but also as a result of the competing products they launched.
And yet, Microsoft somehow managed to expand in Apple’s walled garden, making its software available for Mac OS X users at a time when pretty much every fanboy of the Cupertino-based tech giant hated the software firm with all their guts.
It all started in 1997 at Apple’s MacWorld conference in Boston when Steve Jobs made a surprise announcement and Bill Gates himself took the stage to discuss Microsoft’s plans for Mac OS X.
It was something nobody would have ever imagined happening, but which Apple really needed due to its financial trouble. With a low stock price and struggling financially, Apple appointed Steve Jobs as an interim CEO in an attempt to save the company.
And the solution he found, and which he announced at MacWorld, was a partnership with Microsoft that allowed the software firm to expand in the world on Mac OS X quite substantially.
First of all, according to the partnership between the two, Internet Explorer became the default browser on the Macintosh.
“We have taken a look at browsers out there and Apple has decided to make Internet Explorer its default browser on the Macintosh. Since we believe in choice, we’re going to be shipping other Internet browsers, as well, on the Macintosh, and the user can, of course, change their default should they choose to. We believe that Internet Explorer is a really good browser, and we think it’s going to make a fine default browser,” Steve Jobs told the audience in this surprise announcement.
Then, a dedicated version of Microsoft Office for Mac OS X was also offered to Apple users as part of a five-year collaboration.
What Microsoft had to do in return was make a $150 million investment in Apple, which essentially allowed the company to avoid the financial collapse.
“Microsoft is making an investment in Apple. Microsoft is buying $150 million worth of Apple stock at market price. It is non-voting shares. And they’ve agreed not to sell them for at least three years. So what this means is that Microsoft is going to be part of the game with us as we restore this company back to health, have a vested interest in that stock price going up,” Jobs told the audience.
Microsoft and Apple also settled their patent dispute and received a full cross-license for all patents.
The End Of Microsoft Explorer For Mac Download
It goes without saying that Microsoft was the big winner of the deal, especially as it was the world’s largest software company that also wanted a piece of Apple’s pie.
The End Of Microsoft Explorer For Mac Osx
Internet Explorer landed on Macintosh computers in 1996 with version 2 of the browser. However, Microsoft’s browser became the default option as part of Mac OS 8.1 announced at MacWorld in 1998 – the operating system, however, shipped with Internet Explorer 3.01, despite version 4.0 already available at that time; this was necessary because the latest IE version wasn’t finalized when Apple signed off Mac OS 8.1.
Internet Explorer 11 For Mac
Since then, Microsoft pushed harder and harder for its software on Mac OS X, and new versions of Internet Explorer were released regularly. Internet Explorer 5 landed in January 2020, followed by Internet Explorer 5.1 in September 2001.
Internet Explorer For Mac
The browser partnership between the two came to an end in 2003 when Apple released Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, which shipped with the company’s very own Safari browser. Microsoft eventually abandoned Internet Explorer for Mac in late 2005, while next year it also pulled download links once and for all.
Free Microsoft Explorer For Mac
Users who tried to download Internet Explorer after this date were told to try out Apple’s Safari.