exe files that use virtualization technology to ensure the browser runs in its own segregated environment without affecting your core system.įinally, there is IETester from DebugBar. Unfortunately, they do not work in Vista.Īn alternative is the Xenocode Browser Sandbox which provides IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, Chrome, Opera and Safari. XP users can simply extract the files and create a shortcut to iexpore.exe. Standalone versions of IE6 (and any version back to v3.0) can be downloaded from the browser archive. Multiple versions of IE can be installed on a single PC. Install Multiple Versions of Internet Explorer These systems are undoubtedly useful, but it is probably better to use them towards the end of your testing process. You only see a screenshot so debugging is tricky and you certainly will not discover JavaScript errors or other subtle problems. There is nothing to install, however, your site must be live, testing is a slow process, and the better services charge a fee. Several online systems can be used to show how your site works across various combinations of OS and browser: However, there are a number of ways to test multiple browsers on a single PC. Vista users can not downgrade and must use either IE7 or IE8. The browser is tightly integrated into Windows so only one version can be installed. It is early days for Chrome, but I suspect Google will issue automatic updates so most users will have the latest version.Īs always, the tough one is Internet Explorer. This is a daunting list: testing your web application could take longer than building it!įortunately, it is easy to install multiple versions of Firefox, Safari and Opera on a single PC: just choose a different installation folder.
Need to get closer to 100% user coverage? Throw in IE5, IE5.5, Netscape 6, Mozilla 1.7, mobile Opera mini, a PlayStation 3, a PSP, a few historical versions of Mac Safari, and a couple of screen readers.
Mozilla Firefox 2 and 3 (Firefox 3.5 coming soon).Microsoft IE6 and IE7 (IE8 coming soon).Usage statistics vary from site to site, but the following browsers should cater for 99% of users: Today, we are faced with 5 mainstream browsers and, to complicate matters further, each of those has multiple versions. Even the most conscientious developers would only test a couple of other minority browsers.
You would develop and test your code in Internet Explorer and be totally oblivious to anything but major HTML, CSS or JavaScript errors. Testing a website used to be so much easier.