How to unit test my application manually on multiple browsers?

Question

My project requires support on multiple browsers, like Firefox 2.0, firefox 3.0, IE 6, IE 7, etc. My problem is I cannot test the application on lower versions of the browsers. I have to move to other system or other machines for the testing. Is there any way to solve this?

I cannot even use Virtual Box, since my company won't encourage other softwares to be installed.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Use a browser emulator such as:

1. BrowserShots.org : Free; test your web design in different browsers
2. iCapture : Free; safari screenshots
3. ieCapture : Free; internet explorer screenshots
4. Lynx Viewer : Free; this service allows web authors to see what their pages will look like (sort of) when viewed with Lynx, a text-mode web browser.
5. Browser Cam : Free for 24 hours; Cross-browser screen captures.
6. BrowserPool : Free test account; Direct access to real Windows-, Mac- and Linux-systems.
7. Multiple Internet Explorers : install multiple Internet Explorer versions on the same machine.
8. Browser Compatibilitytool by NetMechanic : paid service
9. Screenshot Generator : Screenshot generator to see your site on a Macintosh G5 in Safari, MacIE or Mozilla.

10. Browser Archive : Software archive of previous version of browsers at evolt.org

    Source: http://spellbook.infinitiv.it/2006/07/26/top-10-browser-emulators.htm

Answer 2

For IE you can check out IETester

Answer 3

Campaign to get VirtualBox installed. Seriously. It's a basic tool for web design. Presumably they give you a better editor than notepad, they owe you decent testing tools as well.

Answer 4

A testing solution depends on the functionality of the application and the resources at your disposal. Your first question should be what platform am I writing on and for? The Operating System platform will determine the default tool set you have.

What is the scope of the application?

-Are you testing graphical elements?
-GUI IO?
-Computational functionality?

Will you have access to:

• Virtual Machine(s) - one computer emulating other environments
• Use Multiple local machines and a KVM Switch, more raw processing power, easy access, works well for GUI testing
• Use multiple remote machines via SSH or some other server-client arrangement, a client like VNC or a form of remote desktop might be required .

You will require an automated method of application installation, activation, reset and reporting. Can you run scripts or batchfiles? Must the app run in a GUI mode, does it have a CLI? Do you have access to other services such as web servers, can you open ports to send/receive status reports? Can you remotely login to the test machines, launch and reset the browsers from the command line?. Can you reset a hung Application?

Failure and success can be reported in various ways such as the creation of a local file, the downloading of an image from a server or a ping on a port. Essentially testing will require more work and time because you will need to design, implement and perhaps ironically test a testing suite and apparatus.

Answer 5

There are "Portable" versions of Firefox that will let you test 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0 without much trouble... even from a USB key if the pesky IT folks won't let you install locally.

Answer 6

There's a similar question here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/574463/running-ie6-ie7-and-ie8-on-the-same-machine

The accepted answer there was to use virtualization so that you can get a true picture of how the website would behave under each browser running on its native system. You can run firefox on a portable thumbdrive, but you can't do it with IE. You could put a firefox and an IE on each VM to cut down on the number of VM instances that you need.

Answer 7

To Check All IE You can go to CodeckPack . nl and install all IE, ie, IE collection.

or you can use www. multibrowserviewer .com it can check in 45 browsers and 3 os