Two Helpful Tools For Browser Testing
I haven’t done any browser testing in a while, really since before I got my current laptop. So when I decided to rework the site and start browser checking, I looked around to see what new utilities were out there to help. I found quite a few websites/software tools, some I played with, but two I actually used, and used, and used.
The first is an MulitpleIEs by Yousif. MultipleIEs is an installer that puts IE3 IE4.01 IE5 IE5.5 and IE6 on your system and allow them to run independently. We all know that most of the hair pulling involved during web design mostly revolves around making your creation look right in older versions of IE, and MulitpleIEs makes the process much easier.
What Yousif did was expand on an discovery by Joe Maddalone, which was later perfected by Manfred Staudinger, which exploited a process called ‘DLL Redirection’ that was introduced in Windows 2000 and later. Yousif decided to help make the rest of our lives easier. He just gathered up all the older versions of IE and made a simple installer that makes the system changes for ya.
Next is Browsershots.com, which is a open source site that lets you test your web design in different browsers. Nineteen to be exact, and on three different operating systems respectively. There are also options for screen size and color depth. You can even choose what version or to disable java, javascript, or flash. Wait thirty minutes or so and view the different screenshots of your site. Or just download all of them in a zip package.
Browsershots was created by Johann C. Rocholl who has several computers networked to the website. Put in your url and it goes to a job list. Then the various computers get to you when they can, take the screen shot, and then shoot it back to the website. The few times I used it, it took roughly thirty minutes or so but sometimes you have to extend the queue. It is free, but you can pay 15 dollars a month for priority processing, this gets you bumped to first in line when you put in a request.
I wouldn’t use this site as your primary browser testing tool, especially when you could use a spread of browsers on your own system to get a base design. But at critical chokepoints with a certain browser or at particular milestones during design, using this site is a very good idea. And what wouldn’t impress a client more than presenting them numerous screenshots of their site in different browsers? On different operating systems? I bet the client didn’t even think of that.
What tools do you use for browser testing? Comment and let me know.