We've made our feelings about IE6 quite clear in the past, and we have joined the throng of developers worldwide who have dropped support for the veteran browser as standard (some are clamoring for its death). However, in some cases -due to the demands of our clients or user base- we are forced to develop IE6-compliant websites.
The question is - how do you test on a modern Windows Vista machine? It's actually surprisingly simple (and free).
Considering that most users and developers now have IE7 or better installed on their machines and the fact Windows won't allow you to install multiple versions of IE, how exactly do you test for IE6 if you're web developer?
Well, you could spent time and money building an old PC with Windows XP and IE6 installed, and waste time, money and patience. Or you could simply test from the comfort of your current Windows Vista or Windows 7 desktop using a Virtual PC and Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image, courtesy of Uncle Bill and his chums @ Microsoft. Perhaps they feel a little twinge of cyber-guilt at having lumbered the planet with the abominable cyber sloth that is IE6, but Microsoft do indeed provide all the tools (for free) that allow us to test our lovely shiny websites on grandma's battered browser.
How to test Grandma's browser using Uncle Bill's toolbox and Windows Vista
- Download Windows Virtual PC 2007 (free download)
- Download one of the available VHD (Virtual Hard Drive) files available
- Install the Virtual PC application
- Unpack the hefty .exe file to create a VHD file
- Load the VHD into the Virtual PC
- Don't expect the internet to work. You will probably need to manually configure the internet connection settings, and your wireless connection probably won't work at all.
- You'll find Microsoft's defualt landing page for IE6 doesn't actually work in IE6. Need I say more??
- Enjoy browsing the internet 2001!
There are, of course many other ways of doing this -you can install multiple instances of IE in Windows Vista by hacking the dll files, and there are some other emulators floating around- but in my opinion nothing beats the real thing.
Can you think of another way? Share it with us by dropping us a comment below.
