April 29, 2025

Yes, Internet Explorer still runs on Win11, with some help

Yes, you still can run Internet Explorer, even the all might Internet Explorer 6, on Windows 11! Disclosure: I did work years ago on the mentioned product. I am biased.

Here are the steps:

  1. Use a virtual machine. Seriously, use a disposable virtual machine. IE is unsupported and isn’t maintained with security patches

  2. Download the turbo.net client for Windows and install it. The installation will not require any admin rights.

  3. Open the Command Prompt.

  4. Execute: turbo run microsoft/ie:11, or turbo run microsoft/ie:6. YES, even Internet Explorer 6 will run.

  5. Enjoy your Internet Explorer nostalgia trip.

Memories

Internet Explorer in a Container

The turbo.net client is an app level containerization platform. It allows distributing Windows applications easily, including running old apps on modern Windows versions.

Use Cases to run old IEs

What is the use case to run such old Internet Explorer versions? The primary use is to run legacy software that only runs with Internet Explorer. That software might not be supported by the vendor, the vendor went out of business or it is too costly to rewrite. Then, running an old Internet Explorer might the best option.

Turbo.net will also help 'locking' this Internet Explorer down, with extra sandboxing etc. For example, you can lock the Internet Explorer to only talk to your internal app:

turbo run --route-block=ip --route-add=ip://{the-internal-app-id} microsoft/ie:11

IE6: Can I still use it to download a browser?

Surprise: Google.com still loads in IE6. However, it will be served with plain HTTP, no encryption. So, I tried to download another browser: However that fails, because nearly all sites use https, including the download Browser sites. IE6 can’t do modern HTTPS.

Downloading in IE11 did work, because sites still to support an old enough TLS/HTTPS standard.

Note that the download will end up in the sandbox of the Turbo.net VM. To actually install it that sandbox needs to be configured to be less isolated. That is out of scope of this post.

Besides Running IE, What is Turbo.NET good for?

This section is an ad ;). Again, I worked on this product years ago.

There are two sides to the whole (Turbo.net product suite:

  1. Isolating and packaging difficult Windows software to be make it easy shippable. It can turn most apps into a nice package that runs on any Windows machine without installation and admin permissions.

  2. An app server, that runs packaged software and gives access via a thin client. Example: In a large organisation, provide employees access to a suite of Windows app without any installation, on any OS. Mac user still can instantly access a complex Windows application of the organisation. Including heavy apps with 3D rendering etc.

Final Words

Yes, this blog still renders in IE11. Unfortunately, not in IE6, as again the HTTPS doesn’t work anymore.

Yeah
Tags: Development turbo.net