Web designers and developers using Macs (and others) need to run (Windows) Internet Explorer for testing, and a popular option here is Parallels, which virtualises Windows in the background and lets you run Interent Explorer from the dock as if it was a regular Mac app.
The problem is, you need a Windows DVD or image file, which you then install into the Parallels virtual machine.
Buying a Windows licence purely for the purpose of this is one option – but the idea of financially rewarding Microsoft for IE doesn't sit well with anyone who's spent hours fighting with IE's many bugs.
Piracy isn't/shouldn't be an option for tools for professional work.
So, I'm looking for another way to get a working, legal copy of Windows into Parallels.
For another Windows virtualisation product – Virtualbox – it's possible to acquire a free, legal Windows image published by Microsoft for the purposes of testing, that comes with IE and essentially nothing else. However, the source I know for this (https://github.com/xdissent/ievms, also advocated on this site in this question) seems to be specific to Virtualbox.
Is there an equivalent legal, free source of Windows for Mac IE testing virtualisation purposes that works with Parallels?
Best Answer
Got it working. Microsoft currently publish free, official Windows virtual machines for things like Parallels and others, for exactly this sort of testing - currently distributed on http://modern.ie
pvm
file using the terminal commands provided. It's a big download, about 3.5gbs.pvm
file (after installing parallels) which should open in Parallels and boot up. If it asks if the VM was 'Moved' or 'Copied', chose "Copied".A few tips for working with Windows through Parallels in this way:
domain\username
as your username instead ofusername
)And just in case anyone is in the exact same position as me, needing IE for testing and for doing stuff in Sharepoint, you can install Sharepoint Designer in the VM but it has to be the 32 bit version.