if IE 8 is installed "by accident" (by the Windows Update program), now the machine has IE 8. Does that mean it is safest to run 2 Virtual PCs, one with IE 6, and one with IE 7 to test our web app?
+3
A:
IE 8 has "Compatibility mode" for IE 7. You can click the button on the right of the address bar to revert to IE 7's rendering.
Meaning you'd only need a VM for IE6.
EDIT: Yeah, VMs are best. Compatibility Mode is good enough.
Adam A
2009-05-25 22:09:27
The compatibility mode has a few changes from "vanilla" IE 7, as outlined several times on the IE Blog. For most sites you wouldn't notice but some things are different.
Joey
2009-05-25 22:46:16
orip
2010-06-16 10:50:47
Suggesting IETester while downvoting Compatibility mode is a bit odd to me. Yeah it's the same Dlls inside, but you still have to get through the IETester's shell. If you're going to go through the effort to have perfect IE7, get a VM for it. If it's not worth the time (and it usually isn't), my opinion is that Compatibility Mode is the easiest thing there is.
Adam A
2010-06-16 22:00:33
IEtester is good, but not enough. The AX for the PNG hacks do not work there under IE6. Be warned, it behaves a little different then a real PC.
elcuco
2010-06-16 22:06:40
Adam A - I've encountered (and have had to fix) several IE8-compatibility-mode rendering quirks vs. IE7. I've yet to encounter one caused by IETester. So compat mode is better than nothing, but IETester is better and convenient. IETester has given me problems with ActiveX controls, though, for those I use the VM.
orip
2010-06-18 17:50:41
+1
A:
You can run multiple copies of IE on the computer. There are lots of tutorials out there, or you can use a piece of software like MultipleIE's
Jas Panesar
2009-05-25 22:14:31
for some reason, some of my coworkers had problems running them... or not seeing the correct IE 6 behavior. some people say VPC is still the best way to go, although i have seen IE 6 behavior different on a VPC as opposed to a real PC with IE 6.
動靜能量
2009-05-25 22:16:57
Multiple IE is a decent alternative, but it's not the same. I had a page once that crashed IE6, but not MultipleIE's IE6. I've also had the reverse.
Adam A
2009-05-25 22:36:00
Interesting... there is one more link that is on the tip of my mind that let you run separate versions altogether... hopefully someone pastes it here..
Jas Panesar
2009-05-25 23:00:52
+7
A:
I recommend that you run multiple VMs with different browser versions as a way of safely testing (regardless of IE8 or not). This is what our QA team does.
JD
2009-05-25 22:20:39
Unless you want to simulate a state where your users run in Compatibility mode :).
Liran Orevi
2009-05-25 22:56:03
This is actually, although it might be quite tedious, the only way to know for sure how things will look in the different browser versions. Different versions installed on the same machine have been known to interfere with each others' rendering, even though they do seem to work fine. If you want to know what the site looks like in IE7, you have to have a machine (real or virtual) that runs _only_ IE7. Etc...
Tomas Lycken
2009-05-25 23:14:02
+1
A:
Scott Hanselman posted recently on how you can install IE8 in Windows 7 using the seamless XP compatibility mode, and then you can run it along with IE6 at the same time. If you are using Windows 7, then this could be a way to go.
1800 INFORMATION
2009-05-25 22:23:09
A:
I find it a little odd that it's easier to run IE5, 6 and 7 next to each other on Linux (under Wine) than it is on Windows.
But hey, ho... Thinking about it, you can run Wine on Windows... That might be an option to consider. A lot lighter than a full VM.
Oli
2009-05-25 22:24:46
How can I run wine on windows. I haven't been able to find anybody doing this?
Ryu
2009-06-11 13:58:46
+4
A:
Check out Microsoft's free SuperPreview software for comparing how pages render in IE 6,7 and 8, as well as firefox, chrome etc.
Cookey
2009-05-25 22:26:43
+15
A:
What I really like is IETester. It's an app that is easily installed (works in Vista/7, too), and you can basically have a tab for each version of IE (5.5, 6, 7, 8 and whichever is installed on your computer)
Adrian Mester
2009-05-25 22:30:39
IETester also has some crude Firebug-like functionality like DOM view and JS console. Not exactly as advanced as FB, but it's a start.
borisCallens
2009-12-01 08:29:13
+1
A:
It's not quite the same, but you can get screenshots of your website in lots of different browsers using BrowserShots.
James Brooks
2009-05-25 22:34:54
I approve BrowserShots. Different browser versions on different operating systems. The only downside is you may have to wait a few moments for your request but for the power of browsershots, it's very much worth it.
Andrew Weir
2009-05-25 23:10:08
@Andrew another downside is you can't interact with the page... to make sure certain interactive things are working, for one.
alex
2009-05-25 23:24:48
@Alex, another feature it does include is the ability to decide whether you want Javascript etc.
James Brooks
2009-05-26 09:16:26
A:
Super Preview
they said at the pdc that Super Preview in will do ie6 ie7 ie8 safari and firefox via a webservice as if it was being rendered on a mac ... its a wet dream of any webdev however its yet to come ... currently it supports ie7 and ie8 standarts mode
Sevki
2009-05-25 22:41:20
+2
A:
I'd recommend running them in a VM as others have suggested. You can get Microsoft's own VPC images from here. There are images for IE6, 7, 8 pre-installed for Windows XP SP3, as well as some Vista images too.
You can also find a more detailed how-to here for running these images under VirtualBox in Ubunutu.
Soo Wei Tan
2009-05-25 23:03:51
+2
A:
Use a virtual machine. Scott Hanselman has an excellent blog post on setting up seamless virtual apps in Windows 7. The example he uses is, in fact, IE6.
Wedge
2009-05-26 00:10:06
+1
A:
If you are using Windows 7, you can use Virtual XP Mode and have IE6 there, virtualized (seamless mode). It's easy process to set it up. http://blog.sibinj.com/post/Tip-for-running-application-in-Windows-7-Win-XP-mode-%28Internet-Explorer-6%29.aspx
LILkillaBEE
2009-07-15 13:02:24
+1
A:
Virtualization is really an overkill for this, you can easily install multiple versions of IE on the same machine with "IE collection" http://finalbuilds.edskes.net/iecollection.htm
It works much better than Multiple IE mentioned above.
And if you need an application to automatically drive these (and other) browsers - check http://www.browserseal.com
Demiurg
2009-12-01 08:24:23