I realise OS specific browser testing is necessary

Question

I've been testing a website I design on my mac and also on windows. To be more specific mac osx snow leopard and windows 7.

Now I'm wondering if I will need to test further e.g. mac osx leopard, tiger ... windows xp, windows vista?

I've been wondering since I started all this browser testing stuff.

Kind regards

Answer 1

The only browser that's an issue IMO is IE as running multiple versions takes some setup and is not completely decoupled from the OS. The Developer Tools in IE 8/9/10 let you choose the rendering mode of earlier versions, but there are sometimes differences in the rendering between the simulated and "native" browser. Users of the other browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari) tend to upgrade quickly and in addition, even early versions of those browsers were fairly compliant (aside from CSS3 capabilities that were codified after they were released, but those usually degrade gracefully)

Great article in Smashing Magazine about setting up testing for IE using virtual machines.

Answer 2

Fonts are dependent on if the user's OS has them installed by default. Fonts have kerning (space between the characters), and if changed to a backup font with different kerning can affect the flow of your page.

Form elements (text inputs, radio buttons, dropdowns, etc.) are rendered by the browser but adhere to the OS standard settings.

In short, it's always good to get your hands on as many environments (OS/browser combinations) as possible to see what your site will look like. If you have a friend with a different set up, check it out, ask them to send you a screenshot or use one of the online services that provide this ability.