Confused on where exactly i should test my ie code. the tester is bugging me

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Confused on where exactly i should test my ie code. the tester is bugging me

Hi there,

ie6 has been bugging me up from a very long time from now. and i am feeling so frustrated. however here is the problem i am facing.

i have written the XHTML markup , html and css code. i want to test the cross browser compatibility, i know there are lots of tools out there to do it, and i am already using some of them.

i am on windows7, i have installed windows xp through vmware, and the HTML IDE i am using is, Microsoft Expression Web. for testing ie6 compatibility i have ie6 tester and Microsoft Expression web SuperPreview.

when i test my code using Windows XP and Microsoft Expression Web Super Preview the website renders perfectly fine. but when i use the tool ietester and browser.adobelab.com it displays with ugly alignment.

what is happening? windows xp comes with built in ie6 isn't it? i am using the tool from the very own creator of the crappy browser ie6 and it renders my page absolutely fine. then why is it that the tool browser.adobelab.com and ietester shows the different alignment and makes my page ugly. whom do i trust?

I use browser labs alot and it seems to be extreamly accurate, if you compare it to an actual browser then it is pixel perfect. I would go with that but that is just my personal opinion.

Wolfy87 2010-09-28 12:49:59

i am a newbie and it is very painful to upload the files into server everytime you want to check the code. right now i don't want to edit my codes online. i want to test it locally. how can it show different screenshot for ie6.

Ibrahim Azhar Armar 2010-09-28 12:54:14

I have a similar OS setup with windows 7 and XP running within a Virtual PC environment. The setup I then implement is to point a host file record (C:\Windows\System 32\driver\etc\hosts) to my Windows 7 machine on the network. This then allows me to view my development sites from this environment.

Within the XP environment I use Multiple IE's (http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE) which then allows me to test in IE6 and IE7 side by side, whilst the Windows 7 environment allows me to test in IE8.

simnom 2010-09-28 12:59:31

don't forget to add IE9 to your testing now that it's been released (so far just as beta, but full release won't be far off)

Spudley 2010-09-28 13:25:07

Agreed - though you can't run IE8 alongside IE9 as far as I'm aware so the best bet would be to have another VM running.

simnom 2010-09-28 14:23:11

+2 A:

www.browsershots.org

This site will take screenshots for you and upload the pictures. That or if you're into spending money check out the Multibrowser Viewer, which featuers 16 or more standalone browsers to check your site in, as well as the Litmusapp, which is another login based website screenshotter, although I think there is an application for it too now..

Kyle Sevenoaks 2010-09-28 12:59:40

screenshots are fine, but don't cut it for testing dynamic elements of your site. You still need to actually run your site in each browser to see all the quirks.

Spudley 2010-09-28 13:23:59

@Spudley, that's why I linked to Multibrowser Viewer.

Kyle Sevenoaks 2010-09-28 13:28:33

@Kyle -- I wasn't criticising you; just making the point that browsershots on its own isn't sufficient.

Spudley 2010-09-28 13:34:06

I understand :), forgot to add the smiley I guess. But thanks for pointing it out to other readers :)

Kyle Sevenoaks 2010-09-29 08:09:15

I'm not sure that all XP version comes with IE6. Mine, for example, had IE7 after its installation. You should check that by clicking on the "?" and "about Internet Explorer".

Chouchenos 2010-09-28 13:07:36

i am on ie6. :)

Ibrahim Azhar Armar 2010-09-28 13:14:29

+3 A:

The best "tool" to use at the moment is undoubtedly http://spoon.net/Browsers/

With a little plugin they let you run all kinds of browsers on your computer with no install.

When I found out about this, I dropped all the old methods.

Laz75 2010-09-28 13:35:45

This was what I was going to answer too! Spoon is amazing, you can test anything! IE6-9, FF2-4, Chrome-6, Safari 3-5, Opera 9-10. And it's quick, once you load it the first time of the day, they all load pretty quickly after that (depending on your internet speed).

Nicknameless 2010-09-28 13:40:33

@nick "Note: Internet Explorer 9 is not supported on Windows XP."

Knu 2010-09-28 14:08:43

That's because... Internet Explorer 9 is not supported on Windows XP, in general, that's not a spoon limit.

Laz75 2010-09-28 14:14:36

thank you i am going to try this right away

Ibrahim Azhar Armar 2010-09-28 14:20:58

the plugin is simply brilliant, now my alignment has a new story to tell if i use this.

Ibrahim Azhar Armar 2010-09-28 14:46:08

ansaurus

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Confused on where exactly i should test my ie code. the tester is bugging me

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