Running Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7,

Question

Like everyone else, I need to test my code on Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7. Now Internet Explorer 8 has some great tools for developer, which I'd like to use. I'd also like to start testing my code with Internet Explorer 8, as it will soon be released.

The question is: how to run Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8 on the same machine. So far with Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7 I've been using Multiple IE. But people have reported (see comments on the page linked in the previous sentence) issue with Internet Explorer 6 after installing Internet Explorer 8. Those errors are related to focus in form fields. Running Internet Explorer 7 wouldn't matter so much as Internet Explorer 8 can use the Internet Explorer 7 rendering engine, but we still need Internet Explorer 6.

How to run Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, and Internet Explorer 8 on the same machine?

Answer 1

.02 USD more...

I've written a step-by-step blog post showing how to run Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 as "virtual applications" on Windows 7 Ultimate.

Answer 2

There is one elegant way to run IE6, IE7 and IE8 on the same machine, called virtual PC.

First download virtual PC from Microsoft website here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?FamilyID=04d26402-3199-48a3-afa2-2dc0b40a73b6&displaylang=en

Then download 3 EXE files with IE6, IE7 and IE8 here:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=en

Install them on your PC and test your web applications. Saved me days of looking for similar solutions.

Answer 3

This does not directly answer your question, but have you had a look at Litmus? We tend to use it mostly for testing HTML/CSS compatibility across multiple browsers (supported by Litmus).

Answer 4

I've installed Virutal PC according to Donavon's tutorial but it seems that my laptop's BIOS doesn't support Hardware Virtualization, and it's required to run Virtual PC. So, make sure your equipment supports that before you go any further wirh Virtual PC.

Answer 5

VMWare Player is a free alternative to Oracle VirtualBox and Microsoft VirtualPC. As with the mentions of VirtualBox you'll need to create your own images of OS+browser, though. VMWare Player is here: http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

Answer 6

Try http://finalbuilds.edskes.net/iecollection.htm.

Utilu IE Collection contains multiple IE versions, which are standalone so they can be used at the same time.

Conditional Comments work exactly the same as in the native versions. The original version number is shown correctly in the User Agent string. The version number can be found in the window title too.

Utilu IE Collection also includes the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar 1.00.2189.0. This Explorer Bar provides a variety of tools which make troubleshooting websites easier. The Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar is compatible with Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher when using Windows 2000 or higher.

Utilu IE Collection has the option to install the Firebug Web Development Extension for Internet Explorer. Firebug provides a lot of useful tools which make web development easier...