Debug/Test in multiple versions of IE on one machine (Win/Linux/Mac)

[Chris]

Hey,

I know those things have been released some time ago, but I think this could actually be a new thing for most of you, since Microsoft doesn't advertise this very much.

 

As most of you may know, Microsoft allows you only to have ONE version of Internet Explorer installed on your windows machine. For Linux and MacOS, there are either no, or just very outdated versions of Internet Explorer available.

 

But Microsoft offers free Virtual Macines to be downloaded from their website, which contain a bundle of the Windows OS, plus Internet Explorer in different Versions.

So you get the image of a complete set up PC with both windows and IE for free.

 

Simply head over to their modern.ie website and navigate to the "Virtual Machines" section.

There you can select your operating system and which kind of Virtual Machine Software you are using.

 

For those of you who don't know what a Virtual Machine Software is: its like a PC emulator, which simulates a complete PCs Hardware stack. You can create HardDisk Images and install a complete Operation System with all Software there.

 

So you just pick which OS with which IE version you would like to download and get the HardDrive image.

 

Load the image in a VirtualMachine like VirtualBox (OpenSource and free). Works like a charm and enables IE testing anywhere

 

A little note: The windows versions in the images are set to work only a few months until they expire (or you could use this method to get windows for free ).

Afaik, the VMs run for 90 days with no limitations.

After the 90 days, the IE7-10 VMs will only run for an hour until they shut down automatically. But I think thats fairly enough for testing.

The IE6 VM will be completely disabled after the 90 days - you could only enter a WinXP serial number to unlock it again.

You would have to download the WinXP+IE6 VM again to use it again.

 

You can find installation instructions and more information in this blog post.

 

If you have more questions, just post a comment here. I hope you like this resource and can make good use of it

 

 

greetings,

Chris