IE Tab 4.0.20130422

Overview

IE Tab is a Mozilla Firefox extension that adds in the Internet Explorer page rendering technology directly into a separate open tab in Firefox. For web developers and programmers this is a useful extension because they can see what their local web page or live test site looks like with Internet Explorer without needing to load up the Internet Explorer web browser directly. This saves on system resources by not having to load two web browsers at the same time.

The extension derives from IE View but where IE View requires a completely new Firefox window to be opened to view Internet Explorer rendered pages (taking up valuable system resource with the extra window) IE Tab only needs a new Firefox tab to achieve the same result.

Installation

IE Tab is a simple browser extension which can be downloaded when running Firefox. The browser will detect the new extension and install it for you. Once installed, it will run immediately for you.

Interface

A new icon is added to the taskbar in Firefox. A left click on this will change the rendering engine to Internet Explorer back to Firefox or from Firefox to Internet Explorer.

There is also a context menu item added so when viewing a Firefox engine rendered page, right-clicking over it will add the option to “View Page in IE Tab.”

Pros

• Render pages in Firefox using Internet Explorer browser rendering engine
• See how pages look in Internet Explorer without leaving Firefox browser
• Can even use Windows Update from within an IE tab instead of being forced to open up Internet Explorer to do so
• Bookmark pages you are forced to view in Internet Explorer and access the bookmarks within Firefox to save time switching web browsers all the time
• Favicon changes to an IE logo on IE rendered pages
• Uses fewer system resources than having two web browser open at once
• Chrome extension also available

Cons

• No version for Opera or Safari yet.

Alternatives

There is currently an IE Tab 2 for Firefox and an IE Tab 2 for Chrome. The extensions were updated to conform with new plug-in functionality changes to both browsers.

Conclusion

IE Tab in its second version is a very useful little extension that is supported in two web browsers to see how pages look in a third web browser, Internet Explorer. As a surprising number of users still struggle along with the trusty Internet Explorer it is still necessary to check how pages will downgrade when viewed with an older web browser that doesn't support the latest web standards. This extension does this nicely without needing to use Internet Explorer directly at all.