Launching IE on another browser?

[Guest_imported]

Is there a way to launch Internet Explorer from another browser? Let's say I'm using AOL's browser and I want AOL users to launch my site with Internet Explorer. Is there a code that does this?

 

[petey]

Here's the nearest thing possible for what you ask:

<p>Please shut down your browser, open Internet Explorer, and go to [URL unfurl="true"]http://whatever.com/home.htm<br>Thank[/URL] you.</p>

Before you paste this magic bit of code into your page, though, why wouldn't you trust people to pick the browsing technology they feel is right for them?

If they want to use AOL, why not just let 'em, kinks and all? Why not just let people use Mozilla, or Netscape 1.0, or Lynx, or Hot Java, or whatever. This is America. What if they don't even have a normal version of IE?

Sorry, but I'm really fed up with the whole notion that a browser is a "platform" that web authors develop for, to the exclusion of other browser "platforms". How would you like it if I launched Linux remotely on your PC when you came to my site?

Suggested reading materials:

http://w3.org/

http://www.mozilla.org/

http://www.alistapart.com/

 

[Tarwn]

Because when you allow people to use browsers that are horribly out of date, or even a few years out of date, suddenly your customers look at you as if you haven't done the job they asked you to, despite the fact that all the nifty features they wanted took 5 times longer than they had thought it would have and that was just for one browser. I do not think it is to much to ask people to at least use a current version of whatever browser they like, and IE is a good single serving browser because everyone who has windows has it and pretty much every person I have ever met who runs linux has a windows machine, and it is rare to see anyone care about Mac compliance.

And as for allowing the common AOL consumer to pick their own browser, this feels like allowing the random person off the street pick my next car.

-Tarwn
Seen this argument one to many times.

 

[sonnysavage]

I'd put in a line that your site that tells the user that they need a browser that supports CSS2 to use your site, or whatever it is you are trying to accomplish. You could give the examples of IE 5+, Mozilla, and Netscape 6+. Just a thought.

The original reply was correct though, there currently isn't a way to launch a "non-plugin" piece of software from a browser, it would be huge gaping security hole. :-(

 

[JulianUK]

Petey wrote...
"... or whatever. This is America. ..."

No. It isn't. This is the Internet. Get a passport and discover the rest of the World!

Julian
*ENGLAND*

 

[petey]

touche...