I need to twist the IE a bit under the OX-X 5.6.7

**muzycales** · June 10th, 2009, 08:11 PM

I need to access a website that was design for IE and I'm trying to make it run under OS-X. Is a medical page and the first thing that happens is they make me download a .cab file that has 4 files inside. One .inf and other three .ocx

Without that .cab file the content of the website doesn't appear. Now, under OS-X I installed the IE and I'm trying somehow to make it see these .ocx files as pluggins. I tried to change the format (to move them from .ocx to .cfm and also from .ocx to .plugin) and add them to the content of the IE under OS-X, but is not working.

I'm pretty sure it should be a way to make the IE under OS-X to read those files but I don't really know how to do it. Can you recommend me something regarding this aspect?

thanks a lot

**ElDiabloConCaca** · June 10th, 2009, 11:00 PM

Unfortunately, there's no way in the world you're going to get those files to natively work under OS X.

First of all, one or more of those files is a compiled binary file (at least the .cab is, or contains them) that is compiled specifically for the Win32 platform. That immediately makes it incompatible with OS X. Not to mention that the files would more than likely be calling functions that exist only under Windows -- not under Mac OS X. Even if there were compatibility there, the only real "IE-specific" websites use ActiveX controls -- something that the Mac OS X-native version of IE lacks.

Your best bet would be to acquire a legal, licensed copy of Windows XP (or Vista, whatever suits your fancy) and then download the free VirtualBox software from Sun. That will enable you to install and run Windows XP in a virtualized environment (read: in a window) on your Mac. You can then natively run Windows software and use the website that is designed for IE.

**muzycales** · June 11th, 2009, 01:24 AM

Hey, thanks for your replay. I'm already using VirtualBox and it works ok, but the thing is I just wanted to get rid of xp. The .cab file is already decompressed. I got 4 files out of it. Three .ocx (activeX) and one .inf

Now, I read that activeX works ok with OS-X, so I installed IE 5.2 to test it.
If any idea please let me know.

Thanks

**MisterMe** · June 11th, 2009, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by muzycales

...

Now, I read that activeX works ok with OS-X, ...

Where did you read a dumb statement like that? Microsoft never ported ActiveX to the Mac. As for IE 5.2, it is barely useful for anything anymore. Its most recent version IE 5.2.3 was released in 2005. Microsoft soon stopped development on the browser after Apple released Safari. Technology rapidly passed IE:mac by. I still have it installed on my computer. It is about as stable as a house of cards. It is compatible with virtually nothing.

**ElDiabloConCaca** · June 11th, 2009, 07:32 AM

Yep, like MisterMe said, ActiveX has never been nor will it ever be compatible with Mac OS X. It will remain strictly Windows-centric, only supported from within Internet Explorer running natively under a Windows operating system. Your only option is to run Internet Explorer under Windows on your Mac -- either via virtualization (VirtualBox, Parallels, etc.) or via BootCamp.

If the web page you're trying to use is ActiveX-based, then there is no possible way to get it to work on any browser in Mac OS X.

You're on a snipe hunt if you're trying to make ActiveX work on Mac OS X -- it simply will just not work, no matter how hard you try.

Not to mention that even though you're extracted some files from a .CAB file, you will never be able to make those files work with any browser under Mac OS X. They're Windows-specific files -- to Mac OS X, they're just a bunch of gibberish.

**DeltaMac** · June 11th, 2009, 07:42 AM

Just to reiterate - when an internet site needs IE, it's expecting IE 6 or newer. The old Mac version 5 won't help at all, and doesn't provide ANY support for ActiveX, AFAIK. If that site needs ActiveX, then you still need Windows, with IE6 or higher.

Maybe Snow Leopard will provide support for ActiveX, along with the Exchange support that's one of the additional features in SL.

**ElDiabloConCaca** · June 11th, 2009, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by DeltaMac

Maybe Snow Leopard will provide support for ActiveX...

Hehe... I'd be willing to bet a body part that doesn't happen!

**muzycales** · June 11th, 2009, 12:16 PM

Hey guys. Thanks a lot for your help.

Regarding the activeX under MAC, Microsoft released a long time ago (I think in 1996) a beta version of a SDK and I thought OS-X already incorporated it.

Link1

Anyway, thanks again for your help.
I'll see you around.

Andy