Microsoft brings Internet Explorer to OS X, iOS and Android with RemoteIE

Microsoft is making its Internet Explorer browser available for OS X, iOS and Android. It is not a native application, but a cloud service with which the latest version of Internet Explorer can be used remotely.

The technique is called RemoteIE and works via Azure. With RemoteIE, developers can use the most recent version of Microsoft’s browser in combination with Windows 10, while they do not need the so-called technical preview. Also, no other operating system needs to be installed, nor is a virtual machine required, Microsoft says.

RemoteIE is free and only intended for testing websites in Internet Explorer. Microsoft hopes this will mainly appeal to developers who work with another operating system to make their applications suitable for the browser.

Developers cannot make unlimited use of the service, because the number of sessions is limited for the time being. For example, if you are logged in for ten minutes and do nothing during that time, you will be logged out automatically. In addition, sessions do not last longer than an hour. Microsoft says it does this to save resources.