Introduction

Many organizations would like to upgrade to a modern version of Internet Explorer on Windows 7 or Windows 10 but run into a range of compatibility and other inconsistencies with their line of business web applications. With the 2022 end of life for Internet Explorer, organizations will need to move those legacy applications to Edge Internet Explorer Mode to be supported on Windows 10 or Windows 11. Organizations depend upon web applications which were designed for legacy versions of Internet Explorer. The various changes in layout, rendering, scripting and security designs in modern IE versions prohibit those applications from functioning properly without extensive and expensive modifications or upgrades. Or the critical line of business applications that requires a specific version of Java, where another application requires a different version, and a third application requires yet another, and so on. Trying to manage these disparate technology requirements and versions is daunting enough, but then to realize the pace of change for browser-based applications…makes the task impossible to solve, let alone stay ahead.

Browsium Ion (“Ion”) allows enterprises to upgrade to modern technologies like Windows 7 or Windows 10 and current Internet Explorer versions or Edge Internet Explorer Mode while maintaining compatibility with existing legacy web applications—all without changing a single line of server code.

But Ion provides more than just legacy Internet Explorer compatibility for the web applications you are running today — it helps ensure Web Application Continuity as your business moves forward. Web Application Continuity provides solutions to manage, maintain, and operate your web applications regardless of the underlying browser lifecycle. Your web applications are built to serve the business for years, but the rate of browser innovation has accelerated to the point it outpaces the standard IT technology system lifecycle.

Ion decouples the browser/web application dependencies that exist today and enables your organization to deploy technologies when you want, without breaking existing line-of-business applications. More importantly, Ion is seamless to users, integrated into the browser and is more easily managed than virtualization solutions.

Browsium Ion Overview

Ion gives IT administrators the ability to use and control multiple browser modes, fully customize the browsing environment, and rollback web plugin support to legacy versions all inside modern versions of Internet Explorer, across the entire enterprise. Ion lets organizations enjoy the features and better security of the latest platforms and migrate their legacy Internet Explorer applications on their own timeframes and budgets.

More importantly, Ion is a solution that makes sense.

Ion makes sense to users because it’s seamless. It lets them work in the ways they’re used to, unlike virtualization approaches that require special training or hardware. In fact, many users never notice they’re using Ion.

Ion certainly makes sense to IT administrators because it’s been designed with them in mind. Ion is easy to deploy and manage using the same tools and techniques that have previously been used for Internet Explorer. Ion does all the work on the client side so it works well for in-house and remote workers alike. With minimal overhead, and support for 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows, Ion runs everywhere IT administrators need it to. Finally, its isolated approach to running legacy browser settings greatly reduces attack surface when compared to running a legacy operating system and browser.

With Ion integrated into your business, the security and functionality benefits of Windows 10, Windows 11 and a Microsoft Edge (Chromium) are within easy reach.

Browsium Ion Explained

Browsium Ion is markedly different from any other web application compatibility offerings, so to understand what Ion is, it’s easiest to start by identifying what it is not: Ion is not virtualization, it is not a repackaged standalone version of Internet Explorer, nor is it a solution that enables running multiple versions of the Internet Explorer browser on the same Windows installation. Installing Ion on your system does not modify the default system browser registry values or settings.

Ion is controlled by a hierarchical system of Profiles and rules, defined using Ion Configuration Manager. Understanding this system is the key to understanding Ion. The Configuration Manager provides the configuration tool that allows Ion to sidestep compatibility issues by delivering different versions of rendering modes, registry settings and ActiveX controls to the web applications that need them. And with the custom ActiveX, file, and registry settings features, you can manage browser extensions that are otherwise incompatible with a particular version or architecture of Windows or Internet Explorer.

Ion works by managing the way your natively installed version of Internet Explorer or Edge Internet Explorer Mode renders content. When invoked automatically by a rule, Ion ensures web applications load the needed version of an add-on, inject the proper JavaScript code, and carry forward legacy Internet Explorer environment and security settings — all without modifying the Windows and Internet Explorer installations or reducing the security posture of the system. Ion renders legacy web applications and content directly inside the Internet Explorer window, just like any other content in the browser. Ion is fully integrated with Internet Explorer settings and uses existing browser settings and file system setups so you only need to manage the exceptions. This approach requires fewer resources and makes administration easy.

More specifically, Ion acts as a broker between the browser and the requested web content. Ion uses software isolation to display content and settings on an IT-controlled opt-in basis. In other words, Ion intervenes when — and only when — it is told to by IT administrators.

Document Modes

Document modes are the foundation of how Ion makes legacy applications work. When a user requests a page that matches an Ion rule, Ion displays the content using an alternate document mode specified by that rule. The following document modes are available in Ion:

• Default (let Internet Explorer choose)

• Adaptive IE Quirks Mode (combination of IE Quirks Mode and IE7 Standards Mode)

• Emulate IE7 Mode

• Emulate IE8 Mode

• Emulate IE9 Mode

• Emulate IE10 Mode

• IE Quirks Mode

• IE Edge Mode

• IE7 Standards Mode

• IE8 Standards Mode

• IE9 Standards Mode

• IE10 Standards Mode

Starting with the 4.5 release of Ion, in addition to setting these Document Modes as the basis for application management, Browsium Ion also offers the ability to select Microsoft Enterprise Mode settings to manage and control web application behaviors.

Profiles

Profiles are groups of settings and browser configurations as well as the specific environment settings, options/values and add-ons required for your web application. Profiles let you specify the configuration and settings needed to run your web application properly, even if that configuration varies from the default IE installation or settings. By providing this type of ‘side by side’ rendering environment, Ion ensures web applications run as expected, even when the default system settings and applications are upgraded to the latest modern IE version.

Profiles are easy to create and customize for your specific web application needs. To get started with Profiles, simply select the browser engine required for your web application and Ion will create a Profile using that browser engine and commonly required default settings. From there you can add custom file associations (to fix issues like running multiple versions of Java inside Internet Explorer or load older CRM/ERP application controls), define HTTP Headers (to ensure web applications operate correctly), as well as a range of other options.

While Profiles are highly customizable, they also inherit system settings that are not explicitly changed. This streamlines management by ensuring you don’t need to recreate every policy setting and control point; simply manage the ones you need to set for compatibility.

Information on the specifics of each browser engine available in Ion can be found in the Profiles List section.

Rules

Rules are actions triggered by a simple string or IP address match, a zone match, or more complex and granular regular expressions. Rules provide very granular control over the conditions which bring them into play and can work broadly against entire zones or target specific elements on a page. See the Rules Manager section to learn more.

Ion Configuration Manager

Ion Configuration Manager is the main interaction point for IT administrators using Ion. Designed to work efficiently in your business and deploy using your existing technology systems, Ion Configuration Manager can be utilized in ways that best meet the needs of your organization. Using a distributed architecture approach, each web application team — or business unit — can use Ion Configuration Manager to create rules and configurations for their specific needs; alternatively, a single administrator can manage all the Rules, Profiles and Settings.

If you choose the distributed approach, you can merge configurations so users will have the combined set of rules and configurations needed for line-of-business application compatibility. Using Ion Configuration Manager, define the sites that need a specific rendering mode and setting; define and deploy the necessary rules and those sites will then be rendered by Internet Explorer using Ion to control the experience. By integrating with Internet Explorer or Edge Internet Explorer Mode, Ion provides a seamless and natural browsing user experience. Your users won’t need to know they are viewing sites using Ion — everything will just work as expected in Internet Explorer or within Edge Internet Explorer Mode.

This is the power of Ion: You control the behavior. Only the sites you configure to be managed by Ion are controlled by an Ion configuration. Sites that need no special browser configuration or security settings load using your default Internet Explorer or Edge Internet Explorer Mode settings. Once your Ion configuration is complete, simply deploy the XML formatted project file and configure client systems to read it. Client systems can be configured to read the location of the project file via Group Policy or simple registry edits — you decide what works for your organization.

Integration with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge (Chromium)

Unlike any other web application compatibility solution available today, Browsium Ion is fully integrated inside Internet Explorer. Starting with Browsium Ion 4.9, Ion fully integrated Edge Internet Explorer Mode to provide the exact experience customers need for applications to run as if they were still operating Internet Explorer. Ion is a clean and user-friendly solution that enables a single browser to access both legacy web applications and the latest standards-based web technologies.

In addition to being a better solution for end users, Ion offers many benefits for the IT administrator. As an integrated component of Internet Explorer or Edge Internet Explorer Mode, Ion reduces installation and patch management overhead, by using Internet Explorer’s local settings and configurations.

Internet Explorer Group Policy Options (GPOs) cascade down and are respected by Ion, so you only need to manage one set of policies. In cases where a Group Policy setting controls a feature not supported by the rendering mode specified by an Ion rule, Ion simply ignores the setting. This ensures consistency across systems running Ion, even in environments that have not standardized on a single version of Internet Explorer or a mixture of systems running Edge Internet Explorer Mode and avoids limitations or issues that may arise in future versions of Microsoft Edge (Chromium).

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Installation

In this section, you will learn:

• About the Browsium Ion system components

• Software requirements for Browsium Ion

• How to install Browsium Ion

• How to configure command line switches for network distribution