Ye Macce Threade

[Torpedo]

Is there any secure way to use Internet Explorer on a Mac without installing a Windows? I would need to do that for work reasons.

[HiWire]

I'd look at installing Microsoft Remote Desktop to login to a Windows computer if you need it to test something on a casual basis – otherwise, Boot Camp or Parallels/Fusion with a Windows install would be necessary.

Otherwise: https://dzone.com/articles/7-ways-you-can-test-your-website-on-internet-explo

[blessingx]

People are still coding for IE? 
Can you use Opera to identify itself in the user-agent as IE? Not sure if that is still an option. 

Edited March 20, 2020 by blessingx

[Torpedo]

It's to be able to use a HP piece of shit that they're using in my workplace to access a rather large database. For some reason the software is embedded into IE browser. It has to be a relatively modern IE version. My problems are that my Mac is rather old  so I don't have much of the SSD space free to install Windows, and that I don't have a Windows 8 or higher to install it using Bootcamp or Fusion. If I can't get this working I won't be able to do some work from home. With the quarantaine I'd much better work from home.

My plan B is borrowing a Windows laptop, but I'm having trouble with that too.

[HiWire]

You can set up the HP to accept remote connections if it's running Windows 7 or later Professional or Enterprise edition (not Home):

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/turn-on-remote-desktop-in-windows-vista/

Then you can download Microsoft Remote Desktop 10 on your Mac to log into the HP:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/microsoft-remote-desktop-10/id1295203466?mt=12

or

for older Macs, Microsoft Remote Desktop 8:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/microsoft-remote-desktop-8/id715768417?mt=12

 

You'll need to know the IP address of the HP (by clicking on the network icon at the bottom of the screen on the menu bar) and then opening network settings and clicking on the (I assume) wi-fi area. Eventually you'll see an IP address that looks like: 192.168.1.101. You'll also need to know the user name and password of the HP computer to enter into the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on your Mac.

Edited March 21, 2020 by HiWire

[Pars]

12 hours ago, blessingx said:

People are still coding for IE? 
Can you use Opera to identify itself in the user-agent as IE? Not sure if that is still an option. 

No shit... coding for IE? what a piece of fail.

[Dusty Chalk]

We use software that was coded for IE...probably about 10 years ago.

[Torpedo]

8 hours ago, HiWire said:

You can set up the HP to accept remote connections if it's running Windows 7 or later Professional or Enterprise edition (not Home):

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/turn-on-remote-desktop-in-windows-vista/

Then you can download Microsoft Remote Desktop 10 on your Mac to log into the HP:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/microsoft-remote-desktop-10/id1295203466?mt=12

or

for older Macs, Microsoft Remote Desktop 8:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/microsoft-remote-desktop-8/id715768417?mt=12

 

You'll need to know the IP address of the HP (by clicking on the network icon at the bottom of the screen on the menu bar) and then opening network settings and clicking on the (I assume) wi-fi area. Eventually you'll see an IP address that looks like: 192.168.1.101. You'll also need to know the user name and password of the HP computer to enter into the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on your Mac.

Thank you but I can't do that exactly like you say. By HP I was meaning Hewlett Packard the company developing the piece of shit software that was sold to our very large hospital. I can't openly discuss why or how they made such a foolish decision. I don't have the permissions to set up anything on any computer at work, other than logging into the network and using the software. That would only be allowed if you have a relatively updated IE version, the ones working on W8 and later. Supposedly for security reasons. All they're going to do is delivering to us the permission to access the internal network from our homes if we have such IE.

But from your post I should be able to get some workaround using a ghost intermediary computer with Windows installed, were I able to get MS Remote desktop working in my Mac. Thanks!

Any other suggestion shall be very welcome  

[HiWire]

This looks promising... use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on your Mac to access Microsoft's remote Azure computer (requires a Microsoft account) to run Internet Explorer:

https://osxdaily.com/2015/10/19/use-internet-explorer-11-mac-os-x-easy/

Edited March 21, 2020 by HiWire

[Pars]

Would you be able to run Windows IE on your Mac using Wine or WineBottler? I've used this on mine to run the Windows versions of LTSpice and DipTrace. It seems to work pretty well.

https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/

[Torpedo]

6 hours ago, HiWire said:

This looks promising... use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on your Mac to access Microsoft's remote Azure computer (requires a Microsoft account) to run Internet Explorer:

https://osxdaily.com/2015/10/19/use-internet-explorer-11-mac-os-x-easy/

Interesting. Looks like IE Remote Desktop doesn't exist anymore (in Spain at least) but looking for IE Desktop in the AppStore found "Parallels Desktop" which seems should be able to run Windows apps. If IE works I should be ready to go. I'm going to get this new Parallels and see what it does.

 

42 minutes ago, Pars said:

Would you be able to run Windows IE on your Mac using Wine or WineBottler? I've used this on mine to run the Windows versions of LTSpice and DipTrace. It seems to work pretty well.

https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/

I tried Wine some time ago for other software apps and stopped using it, not really satisfactory on an older Mac. I should give it another try for IE, thanks for the reminder.

[Pars]

I run it on a 2012 Mac Mini i7 and it seems to work fine. 16GB Ram, 500GB SSD.

[Torpedo]

1 minute ago, Pars said:

I run it on a 2012 Mac Mini i7 and it seems to work fine. 16GB Ram, 500GB SSD.

Mine is a 2010 MBP which I upgraded to 250GB SSD (removing the optical drive) and added RAM up to 8GB. It's only a Core 2 Duo.

I've just learned that Parallels is free for 14 days, then it's 80€/year. Not happy paying for something work related. I guess I might find older "free" versions of IE remote desktop for Mac, but I wouldn't like to use anything remotely contaminated for this work application.

[HiWire]

Here are the system requirements for Parallels: https://www.parallels.com/ca/products/desktop/resources/#requirements

You'll still have to source an operating system to run Parallels... the last time I ran Parallels, it automatically gave a link to download Windows 10, but you'll still be nagged by Microsoft to activate (pay) after a while.

According to EveryMac, the 2010 MacBook Pro is compatible up to Windows 8. I'd recommend downloading Windows 7 instead, because it is easier to use. You'll need to get a 25-character product key from someone to activate Windows.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-aluminum-13-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

Download Windows 7: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows7

Parallels uses less space than Boot Camp, if I recall correctly, but you'll still need at least 16GB + 500MB of disk space, according to their documentation.

 

VirtualBox is a free application that is similar to Parallels and Fusion, but it doesn't have quite as many features: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.4/VirtualBox-6.1.4-136177-OSX.dmg

VirtualBox Extension Pack (required for USB): https://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/6.1.4/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-6.1.4.vbox-extpack

You'll need to download a copy of Windows as above to use VirtualBox.

[gepardcv]

What about trying VirtualBox as your hypervisor (free from Oracle, https://www.virtualbox.org) and a Windows developer VM (also free, from Microsoft, https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/)? It looks like the bulk of MS's developer VMs hosting older versions of IE disappeared (they used to be on http://modern.ie, but that now redirects to a generic MS developer site), but I expect that a little sleuthing on the seamier side of the Internet will turn them up.

FWIW, when I tried VirtualBox a few years ago, it had appalling performance compared to Fusion, but things might have improved since then.

Edit: Looks like HiWire beat me to suggesting VirtualBox.

Edited March 21, 2020 by gepardcv

[HiWire]

I gave WineBottler a try and didn't have any luck with Internet Explorer 11 or 8, so Parallels might be a better bet.

This is Microsoft's official page re: Internet Explorer 11 testing with 90-day virtual machines: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/

Edited March 22, 2020 by HiWire

[blessingx]

Yea! An old co-worker finally solved the dreaded (at least for anyone with long fingers) Touch Bar.
 https://shauninman.com/archive/2020/04/12/bar_none

[blessingx]

Rumors are getting louder. 

BLOOMBERG REPORTS ARM MACS COMING NEXT YEAR https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/04/23/bloomberg-arm-macs

[Dusty Chalk]

Harder Better Faster Stronger Moar Better

[ironbut]

16 minutes ago, blessingx said:

Rumors are getting louder. 

BLOOMBERG REPORTS ARM MACS COMING NEXT YEAR https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/04/23/bloomberg-arm-macs

I'll believe it when I see it!

[TMoney]

I finally tried plugging a mouse into my iPad. This is pretty slick!

I’m impressed how well the cursor is integrated into iOS. Well done, (cr)Apple!

[Hopstretch]

 

[Torpedo]

According to MacRumours one shouldn't buy a new iMac now since it's due to replacement soon. However looking at the update times once the 380 days barrier is passed, next update may take as long as 6xx days. We're now at 43x days since last update. Do you have any information that could be useful to a prospective iMac buyer? I'm not in a hurry but waiting for the new iMac to be released for another year might be a bit too long.

[ironbut]

I'm still stoked about my 2019 iMac (8core) and while I wouldn't care to guess what the timeline and differences will be with the next gen, I have heard that there might be some cosmetic changes like a smaller bezel around the screen.

For me, that kind of stuff becomes invisible quickly and I don't have folks coming over and passing judgement on my set up.

Performance wise, my machine isn't invincible (I can bring it to it's knees with loads meant to put an unrealistic strain on it), but for what I demand, it's up to the task.

I owned a couple of Mac Pro's before the iMac and at that time, it was worth being able to easily upgrade components to keep up with rapidly improving tech. 

But I don't see (or have) a need for that these days.

So, maybe Apple will make a huge leap forward in the next year or two. 

If so maybe I'll upgrade to it in 6-8 years just for fun.

[TMoney]

I think you are safe for now. Apple's innovation has been slowed by delays at Intel in moving off the 14nm processing node. Unless Apple switches suppliers of their desktop and laptop CPUs to AMD they are going to be handcuffed to the Intel product release schedule. As such, any big improvements in CPU performance on the iMac line is probably 2-3 years off.