As weird as this may sound, sometimes even Linux users need Internet Explorer – for example to check how they current web design looks in the good old IE, to browse an ‘IE only page’ (probably not as big problem as a few years ago though), or to log in to a legacy system for example. For some time I have thought this is possible only with Crossover Office (which is not not expensive, but still not free) until Gabor told me about a completely free, easy-to-install and working solution: IEs4Linux.

Paradoxically, IEs4Linux provides a functionality which is (AFAIK) not available to Windows users: It installs 3 versions of Internet Explorer: 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0.
Maybe the time has come for Win32 users to install Ubuntu so they can view their webdesign in all the currently used versions of IE? 😉

So, now for the installation:

Check /etc/apt/sources.list – make sure you have access to the ‘universe’ packages by uncommenting the following lines:

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu dapper universe

• Step 1 If you have just uncommented the lines, don’t forget to apply the changes:

  sudo apt-get update

• Step 2 Install wine and cabextract:

  sudo apt-get install wine cabextract

• Step 3 Install IEs4Linux:

  wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
  tar -xzvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
  cd ies4linux-x.y.z (where x.y.z is the actual version number)
  ./ies4linux

There you go. After specifying which versions you need, choosing a locale and a few minutes of installation you should have the links on your desktop.

Check out the original page for new versions, updates or to donate for this awesome stuff!