Browser compatibility testing solution

Having read lots about the potential pitfalls of installing mulptile versions of IE etc onto one machine, and not having space/resources to run a number of different PC's, I've usually resorted to emulators (not always reliable) and luck (even less reliable) when designing sites and making sure that most people will be able to use them.

But I now have a better solution. Old hands will probably just say ... "tell me something new!", but this might help someone out there.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is a freebie from the microserf boys, which can be fairly easily installed. Most of us have old OS discs lying around (I use two redundant licenced copies of Windows 2000) which are now running on my PC.

W2K ships with IE5, which I left on one desktop, and then installed IE6 onto the other. I also installed an old version of Netscape onto one of the VM's, and a slightly newer version onto the other.

Make sure you chose the "Install or update virtual machine additions" option once Virtual PC is installed, as this allows you to copy and paste links, code etc between your desktop and the virtual desktops.

Works a treat, IMHO.

Time for more coffee, methinks

I did the same thing ... but sometimes I'm just too lazy to start up all the VM's and then I just run browsershots.org

How reliable is the BrowserShots app?

I find it pretty reliable ... I haven't seen it make mistakes yet ...