Running IE under Ubuntu

I've been wanting to install Ubuntu on the laptop ever since I got it. The Edgy live disc detected all the hardware flawlessly (for Googlers, it's an Acer Travelmate 5610), with the only "tweak" being trying to remember the wireless network's password. (edit: Almost all the hardware. The TI 5-in-1 card reader remains invisible.) I was getting real close to dual-booting into XP (I need Internet Explorer), and the only thing holding me back was the impending release of Feisty on April 19th. (Check out the upcoming features.)

Then I ran into IEs4Linux. It runs your choice of IE 5, 5.5 or 6 (or all of the above) under wine, and it installed easily and flawlessly for me. I didn't expect that at all! My luck running apps under wine, especially MS ones, has been spotty at best. But this gave me no problems whatsoever. Either wine is becoming less irritating or this is an awesome install script. Or both.

I haven't tested it with whackloads of sites, but I don't really intend to. The idea is to test my own pages, not to actually (hahahaha) "surf with IE."

IEs4Linux installs Flash along with IE, if you develop in that. Support for IE 7 is in beta.

Now, the impending release of Feisty is the only thing holding me back from completely wiping Windows from the laptop.



(This post comes with six seven free parenthetical remarks. (No, seven!))

Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. Sunday

Apparently this is a problem for Windows users. Ubuntu (Edgy) is fine. I don't know about Dapper or earlier versions, though. If you're nervous type zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007 in the terminal.

galoot@cowbell:~$ zdump -v /etc/localtime | grep 2007

/etc/localtime  Sun Mar 11 09:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 01:59:59 2007 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800
/etc/localtime  Sun Mar 11 10:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Mar 11 03:00:00 2007 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
/etc/localtime  Sun Nov  4 08:59:59 2007 UTC = Sun Nov  4 01:59:59 2007 PDT isdst=1 gmtoff=-25200
/etc/localtime  Sun Nov  4 09:00:00 2007 UTC = Sun Nov  4 01:00:00 2007 PST isdst=0 gmtoff=-28800

March 11. Yup. We're good.

Mixed news

Good news: I'm typing this on my new laptop! That's pretty nifty for a guy whose first real calculator came with a belt pouch.
Bad news: This "Designed for Windows XP" label is rubbing against the little bone on the side of my wrist.

...Pardon me. Was.

Good news: I'll be adding Linux soon enough.
Bad news: I'll need access to IE, so I can't replace XP outright. I'll be stuck dual-booting.

Good news: I don't need access to IE that often.
Bad news: No more bad news.

Strange news: I'm typing this using Firefox. I haven't installed Opera, and even when I do I don't think I'll use it very much. (I wonder if Larry reads Galootix.) I'm going to miss a few things Opera did for me, but I think FF's going to offer a degree of flexibility I've never had before. With any luck, it won't be too too long before I can change something if I don't like it. Heh. Yeah.

What I'll miss most of all is Opera's mail client. I love it. Getting used to folders again (Thunderbird, not Outlook) will take some doing. Oh well. I've got lots of time.

P.S. Argh. I use XChat for IRC. Unlike the Linux version, the Windows version isn't free. :(