Hi.

I'm running Ubuntu 5.10. I still consider myself a newbie, but am doing pretty well generally, but have only used native Linux programs so far. Now, I need to try to run some Windows programs...at least Internet Explorer.

I've never tried to use Wine, but need to run IE for a couple of sites. These include online banking sites...not just browsing...so, I need an IE capability to peform actions such as log ins.

I tried running Opera, set to identify itself as IE. It could view the site, but the log-in and submit buttons would not function. Apparently this requires real IE functionality.

1. I've seen various posts discussing all kinds of problems with Wine, some claiming it doesn't work or won't work for them.

Before I start making all kinds of hard-to-undo mistakes, I'd very much appreciate a general run down of what Wine is and how it works. For example, do I have to start it or does it run in the background at boot. Does it have a GUI? Special locations where I need to install IE or other programs? Is it a command line only program?

How do I go about installing IE, and how do I run it (I've noticed there's a Firefox extension that is supposed to be able to run IE under Wine from a Firefox tab and configure a bookmark to open in IE).

Once Wine and IE are installed, does IE run from a menu item or what?

2. I was planning on installing Wine with Auotmatix. I don't know what that will install exactly or how to proceed from there. Can anyone tell me if this is the best way to go?

If anyone can comment on any of this and, preferably, give me some sort of walk-through (on the most basic level possible), your help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much.

When wine is run, it creates a psuedo "c:" drive in your home directory, usually something like ~/.wine/c_drive. You install w32 apps prepended with wine, i.e. wine /path/to/ie.installer.
It will install it in the apppropriate folder(~/.wine/c_drive/Program Files/Internet Explorer).
You can then run the w32 binary in the same fashion (wine "~/.wine/c_drive/Program Files/Internet Explorer/iexplore.exe").
If all goes according to plan, you should get an IE window.

Now what you should do is complain to the webmaster, and/or switch banks. (I recently switched banks, in a small part due to their horrible website)

Yeah, I'd switch, vote with your mouse!

I used to use IE for my banking
When I changed to Linux I changed to Konqueror as my browser
Konqueror will alias itself as almost any browser and I have had no hiccups in my online banking after the change to Konqueror
In case you dont know Konqueror is part of the KDE desktop

ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH--GAG--CHOKE
The last thing that a new Linux user should be doing is to install IE!!! That negates one of the big reasons for switching.
I have only had 2 sites with any hint of problems with Firefox--they both fixed the site when I called it to their attention. Further, you can always configure the Browser to pretend it is something else.
(In Firefox: type "about:config" in the URL window--then search on "useragent")
As someone already said, pressure the bank to support YOU--dont try to jump thru their hoops because their IT people don't understand how to set up a web site. There is NO excuse for building sites that are dependent on one browser.

why internet explorer? If its a web browser you want use mozzila, its provides many more features such as tabbed browsing and it's open source. If you are looking to use it as a file browser, use one availible for linux (Konqueror), they will be designed for linux and provide useful features specific to linux.

Very few sites require IE, and you should not be changed for the website! the website should be changing for you! I have had no trouble with logins w/ firefox, it just takes time to figure it out.

Also, for WINE to work you need a windows installation on the computer, this means you are probably be dual booting. WHY DO YOU NEED IE ON BOTH IF YOU ARE DUAL BOOTING! Just do your banking on the windows installation.

And finally, IE is integrated with Windows (Yes, I know it's stupid, but thats just the way it is), it may be harder than you think to get a Windows version of it onto linux.

Conclusion: You either can't run WINE, don't really need IE, or you won't be able to get a windows ver. of IE on linux. Your welcome to try to get IE on linux, but its probably a better idea just to educate yourself on linux browsers, and how you can use them to access the banks. Good luck.

Well I too had some problems with one wesbite. I tried in Firefox, Mozilla, Opera and Konqueror, tried useragent switches, and nothing worked except IE under wine, although they have changed the site now and it works in anything.

But I empathise with the OP since booting into windows to do just one thing is a total pain. My pc is switched on pretty much 24/7 in linux and booting is a pain anyway, but especially in windows since it takes twice the time that linux takes to boot.

There should be instructions on WineHQ http://www.winehq.com/ to get IE working. It's a lot easier than dual booting trust me.

I think WINE requires Windows binaries to run. For copyright reasons, WINE cannot provide these, and you need to have a Windows installation of the computer (or MAYBE another computer networked to it) you are running WINE on. I dual boot, and don't really mind rebooting every once in a while, but if you are going to be constantly switching between whatever it is you use linux for, and (if you have windows installed, which I think you need for WINE) your banking stuff, as well as whatever you do in windows, and there is no possible way to a. use another browser, or b. get the bank to change their site, than you should use IE with WINE. Otherwise it's probably not necessary. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

no. Wine doesn't need a windows installation. That's the whole idea. It is there to replace the windows API.

Wine can be difficult to set up. Why not try crossover wine which is a lot easier to use. www.codeweavers.com

It's cheap and it has a 30 day functional free trial licence available and it runs IE easily and it's a supported app...

Wow! Thanks for all the answers. However, if I'm going to get anywhere, I think we need to have some clarity here.

1. I've been working on Windows for years, of course, and can do pretty much anything with it.

2. I use the computer for business. This is not a hobby and I need functionality if I want to switch completely to Linux. I use a large number of programs, some of which I have not yet succeeded in finding Linux replacements for.

3. I'm trying to make a complete switch to Linux for two reasons: a) I'm very tired of Microsoft's bloatware, which is always full of bugs, security problems, etc., etc., and b) ideology; I consider myself a free, and independent person and will do everything I can to get away from Microsoft's attempts to control the world and the Internet, such as, but not limited to, their attempt to create the Microsoft Passport (which would have required everyone who wanted to make a credit card purchase to be registered with them), their attempts to invade the world of hardware to force people to use programs which they approve (just wait...they're still trying), and on and on.

4. Because I'm WORKING on the computer, I need ease of operation. Usually this means programs with a GUI. I'm working for Heaven's sake. I need to click on something and get on with it...not type fourteen lines in the terminal.

Having said that, let me be clear that I am willing to and do work with Linux...even though I might need to go through an extra step of two. Example: under Windows, I use Incredimail. That's not because I'm sending cutesy fluff or like childish games. I use it because it allows me to create good business letterhead stationery. I've even argued with them that it would be to their benefit to go after the business market by providing better functionality. They're not interested. They're going for the air-head fun and games market.

However, I've found the solution on Linux. Thunderbird has an extension that lets you edit the HTML of an message. I don't know what they intended it for, but I've managed to create the same HTML e-mails that (until now) only Incredimail could make. I've made a template, complete with images for the letterhead, fully formatted paragraphs with dummy text...the works. Instead of just typing an e-mail, I have to copy the template, open a new message, go to "Edit Source", paste in my temlplate and replace all the dummy text (in each <p>) with the real text, and send. The result is as good as Incredimail or better, but you can see it's more work. I'm perfectly willing to do that to avoid booting back into Windows.

However, there is a limit. On Windows, I send newsletters to a mailing list from a desktop server. This is to avoid problems with my ISP, which has pretty low sending limits. I can't replace that mail server on Linux (with the same configuration flexibility) unless I want to spend a long time learning to fool around with very complex applications like sendmail. I don't have time for that and it's really a case of overkill for the simple functions I need. Programs are appearing every day (I haven't found one that can configure the helo handshake to avoid servers so configured from rejecting messages because the reply-to address doesn't match my machine's IP) and I hope to solve this. Meanwhile, I'll have to use Windows occasionally for that.

5. While I seriously object to the bank's site developer's ineptitude (he/she is either on Microsoft's payroll or just plain incompetent), this is a company bank account and I can't switch.

6. I'm not dual booting and was unaware that this could be an issue. I have separate hard drives for Windows and Linux and am trying to build an independent Linux system, in the hope that, one day, I'll be able to put the Windows hard drive on the shelf. I have hard drives in removable drawers, so I don't have to open the box to change drives...just reboot and change the boot sequence in CMOS.

7. As I mentioned in the original post, I need real IE functionality...not just a browser that identifies itself as IE. This is because some IE programming uses proprietory code for things like graphic "submit" buttons. The bank site is like this. Even under Windows, I use Firefox for almost everything, but clicking a button on that site in Firefox (or any other browser) has no effect.

So, I hope everybody who's had the patience to read this realizes I'm serious about Linux and don't need any pep talks.

The question remains...only now that you know I don't have Windows on the hard drive at all...it's a little more complicated. Can I get IE (a real one that can work those button links) running under Linux. Can Wine do that (I haven't seen anywhere that Wine requires Windows on the machine)? Can CrossOver Office do it? Is the IE version for Linux the real thing...fully functional...or just a toy for people who want to see sites that don't look so hot in other browsers?

Anyone able to help me get this working?

Thanks very much.

Theres is no IE version for linux. What you run with Wine or Crossover is the Windows version, where Wine/Crossover provide the windows system needed to run it (sort of like an emulator).

Wine and Crossover do basically the same thing except that Crossover is a commercial product while Wine is free. I've seen it said that Crossover is easier to set up than Wine so it might suit you, as said above, to download the 30 day free trial.

I found the default settings for Sendmail were fine out-of-the-box with my distro (Slackware) so I wouldn't disregard it at once. Most of the work will probably be to do with setting up your email prog to use it.

Having stated that using IE on Linux is......never mind.

One subtlety is that using IE under wine requires that you have a license for IE--which of course means that you must have a license for Windows. This in turn means that---for some users---either dual-boot or virtual machine (eg VMWare) is the way to go. Sounds like you are one of these users.

Pray for an administration that will re-establish the antitrust action against MS.....Meanwhile, look for ways to educate people as to how they are being used.

I'm very glad to hear from someone who uses sendmail. The documentation I've seen just looked hopelessly daunting. Can you elaborate?

1. What do you mean by e-mail program...a client like Thunderbird, or something else?

2. How did you get it to send through sendmail? I haven't really tried it. Attempted one mail from Thunderbird addressed to localhost, but couldn't even see if it got anywhere because I didn't know how to find out if sendmail had received anything.

3. Do you know whether sendmail can be configured for the helo handshake? If so, how? If not, do you know how to find out?

I realize this is off the original topic of this post and am willing to start a separate one. I just wanted to jump at the chance to see if someone can give me a clue in the sendmail business. It's supposed to be a pretty powerful program...I just don't have time to start trying to figure it out with no directions, as I mentioned. If you can put me onto anything that would be great!

Thanks a lot.

Just saw the post about a license for IE. I've never heard of such a thing. Anyone can download it. I've never been asked for a license.

In any event, how does that work? I own a legal copy of Windows. It was registered a long time ago but I have no info on that now (wouldn't know where to look for registration numbers and such, if they exist)...just a valid installation serial number? How does this go down? Does Wine ask for something?

I think in IEs eula somewhere it might say you need a (legal) copy of windows to use the software, but I've never read much of a eula to find out.

Sendmail supports HELO and EHLO. Like I said, most of the default settings in Slackware worked with no configuring. All I did was 'chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.sendmail' then '/etc/rc.d/rc.sendmail start'. To test it you can 'telnet localhost 25'.

I used Mutt for email which uses any local smtp server with no hassle. With Thunderbird go into account options - smtp server and make a new server with 'localhost' as server