Is it possible to run Internet Explorer on OS X El Capitan?

I need to connect to the website dictate.it, which says it only works with Internet Explorer.

Is it possible to find versions of IE to run somehow within macOS?

Solution 1:

You can use a virtual machine and then use the images provided by Microsoft for use in testing older versions of IE. Requires no cost and you can delete it when you've finished using the site.

For free you can use VirtualBox, and then use one of the images from Microsoft.

Solution 2:

That last version of Internet Explorer for Mac was released in 2003 & won't run on a modern OS.

The closest you can achieve without actually installing Windows would be to change the User Agent in Safari to pretend to be a Windows native browser.

From iMore - How to view websites on your Mac that require Internet Explorer (or a PC)

How to access websites that require a PC or Internet Explorer

1. Launch Safari.
2. Click Safari in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
3. Click Preferences.
4. Click on the Advanced tab.
5. Check the "Show Develop menu in menu bar" setting, then close the Preferences window. The Develop menu should now show in your menu bar.
6. Go to Develop > User Agent.
7. If you need to pretend you're using Internet Explorer, choose one of the Internet Explorer options.
8. If you need to pretend you're using a PC, choose "Google Chrome — Windows" or "Firefox — Windows".

Solution 3:

First, please note that Internet Explorer has been deprecated and replaced by Microsoft Edge since 2015. It is not known to be a secure browser and has frequent major vulnerabilities. If your service provider doesn't support any modern cross-platform browser (such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome), it may be time for a change of provider or service.

That being said, if you really must use Internet Explorer and since it's only available on Windows OS you only have three choices :

• Use a Windows PC or install Windows on your Mac using Bootcamp
• Use a virtualization software (VirtualBox, Parallel Desktop or VMware Fusion) to run Windows inside a virtual machine on macOS
• Use a compatibility layer to run windows programs on macOS without virtualization

That last choice may be a good alternative if you only want to run one specific program and don't need a full-fledged Windows running. Wine is a free and open-source solution capable of running windows program on Unix-like systems (Linux or macOS).

You can install and setup Wine manually but it's mostly dedicated for advanced system administrators. However, there are multiple packaged front-ends for Wine that allow running windows program on macOS without much technical knowledge :

• PlayOnMac, the Mac version of PlayOnLinux, is a free software and provides a user-friendly graphical interface with configuration templates to run the windows version of Internet Explorer
• CrossOver, a commercial solution with customer support if you have some money to spend. It also provides a graphical interface and may have better support than PlayOnMac.
• Winetricks, another open-source solution but mostly dedicated to advanced users

Although those solutions have a lot of benefits (no virtual machine, no Windows license needed, possibly no cost), they may be really tricky to set up if it doesn't work out-of-the-box. In which case a windows virtual machine may still be the easier way to go.

FYI, I managed to run Internet Explorer 8 on macOS Mojave using the trial version of CrossOver :

It may very well be the best solution if PlayOnMac doesn't work and you don't have the technical background necessary to setup Wine manually and you don't want to spend ~$200 on a Parallel Desktop + Windows 10 VM solution.