Checking your website with multiple browsers on a single computer
In case you were not aware, your web page will appear slightly different in the different web browsers. There are a lot of browsers out there, including several versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Opera, among others. There are also different platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Since the multiple versions of certain browsers can’t co-exist together on the same computer, you need to be creative. This article suggests some ways for you to run multiple versions of multiple browsers on one computer.
Testing Firefox, Netscape, Seamonkey, and Mozilla
It’s possible for different versions of Firefox, Seamonkey, Netscape, Opera, and the old Mozilla to co-exist on the same computer, so you do not need to install each of those browsers. All you need to do to make these versions co-exist is to install them into separate directories and create a different profile for each browser you install.
To create a different profile for Firefox, simply start Firefox with the following command line:
“c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox” -ProfileManager
After creating your profiles, create shortcuts so that you can simply click the appropriate icon for the different versions, and it will load using the correct profile. To specify which profile the browser is to load, put the profile name after the “-P” option.
For example, if you have created a profile named “firefox,” your command for running Firefox with that profile may look like:
"c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox" -P firefox
Testing Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8
Internet Explorer (IE) is the most commonly used browser at the moment, with most people using IE 6, 7 and 8. The differences between IE 8 and 7, Opera, Firefox, and Safari aren’t great, but IE 6 is a little tougher. IE 6 seems to have problems with its CSS model, so that even sites with the correct code sometimes won’t work properly.
Unlike most of the other browsers, you can only install one version of IE in a single installation of Windows. Below are some of the solutions to get around that issue.
1. Running multiple versions of Internet Explorer on one computer with an emulator or a virtual machine
The way that most people recommend (including Microsoft) to run multiple versions of IE on one computer is to install an emulator (or virtualizer). Basically, an emulator lets you run another copy of Windows within your existing version of Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc. The emulator pretends to be a new computer, and Windows gets installed into a small space on your hard disk which the emulator uses to mimic an entire drive.
I will provide a list of free PC emulators very soon.
Some of the full emulators like Bochs are very slow. If you already have a PC or an Intel x86 computer (like the newer Macs), a quicker solution is to run virtualization software that can create virtual computers. Unlike emulators that pretend to be completely different computers, such as a 68k Mac pretending to be a PC, virtualization programs simply run a new copy of the operating system within a space on your existing computer. The new copy of Windows will think that it is the only one running, even if you are running it within a different copy of Windows. Since they aren’t emulating a completely different machine they are usually faster than emulators.
Once you have the emulator or virtualization software, you just install a new copy of Windows in each “machine” you set up. For each copy of Windows you set up, all you need to do is install a different version of IE.
Also, Microsoft provides free pre-activated copies of XP with IE 6, 7 and 8 in virtual machines for those who need to test their sites in Internet Explorer. The pre-activated XP expires periodically, so you will need to download a new copy every now and then. You will also need to get a copy of Virtual PC.
2. Running multiple versions of IE through dual booting
Another way to run two versions of IE on a single machine is to install two versions of Windows in that machine, each in its own partition by dual booting. What this means is that you will need to divide your hard disk into two sections, called “partitions”. First install Windows 95/98/98SE/ME into the C: drive. After that, run the Windows 2000 or Windows XP setup program from within the first version of Windows you installed. Select the “Clean install” option rather than the “Upgrade” option when you’re prompted. You will have another window later where you can click the “Advanced options” button. In the window that is displayed, choose the box labeled “I want to choose the installation partition during setup”. Later in the installation process, choose to install Windows 2000 (or XP) in the second partition. Windows 2000 or XP will then install a menu that shows when you start up your machine, allowing you to choose the version of Windows you want to boot. You can apparently install three versions of Windows in a “triple boot,” following the same procedure with a third partition.
I would use the dual boot option only as your second choice. First of all, it requires more work and takes up more space. Also, the old versions of browsers like IE4 and 5 aren’t used much. I think it is easier to use the first method.
Sorry Mac fans, I don’t have a tutorial and testing the different Mac browsers, but I hope to have the chance to create one sometime in the future. No promises, though!
Conclusion
It’s a good idea to test your site with multiple versions of multiple browsers, especially if you have a more complex web site, because it is the only way to know for sure how your site displays on each of them. I wouldn’t go crazy testing every single browser, because some are used so rarely (like IE4 and Netscape 3) that is not worth your time. But, it is still a good idea to at least test a few browsers.
on January 11, 2011 at 9:01 pm
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Great, thank you for link !