IE-View Extension Provides Solution for Websites that Don't Work in Firefox Browser

The IE-View extension for Firefox allows you to quickly view pages that don't work with Firefox in Internet Explorer. Simply right-click and select "View this page in IE" and Microsoft's vintage browser will launch with the page you selected.

The tool is very simplistic, but does include one nifty feature - making a page always launch in IE. To test it, I visited Yahoo.com and activated the "Always View This Page in IE" feature from the Tools menu. The extension will automatically makes all pages that start with the URL "http://www.yahoo.com" open in IE every time I visit them. When I try to go to Yahoo.com now in Firefox, the page will initially begin to load, but then will be replaced with a message from IE-View.

On that message, you'll see a link to editing the settings - a very nice touch in the event that you accidentally added a page to the 'always view' category. A feature can also be initiated from the options that makes the screen or tab close when the page is done loading in IE. Finally, another option is to totally disable to the "Always View in IE" section.

Some things I would like to see in this extension include a button, possibly in the left-hand corner, that will launch the site in IE for you and cut out the right click motion. Also, it could have a community feature where people can report certain sites that don't work with Firefox. The extension could then query the database and give you a pop-up asking if you would like to try the page in IE.

Maybe I'm too much of a dreamer.

What about Firefox on platforms other than Windows, you ask? The IE-View plug-in can be configured to work with Mac OS X and Linux by launching the alternative browser of your choice. For example, on OS X or Linux you can install the plug-in into Firefox and configure it to launch Safari or any other browser you have installed.

In a perfect world, every website would adhere to W3C standards and a W3C-compliant web browser would be all you need. But until then, you'll need to occasionally use Internet Explorer based mostly on standards Microsoft made up. For these instances, IE-View is an easy and elegant solution.

Overall, I recommend this extension and will continue using it. I give IE-View a 3 out of 5.

Click here for more information on IE-View.