So until recently I had an older computer available to me with IE6 that I used for testing. However, that computer died so I no longer have that luxury. My current machine is running XP so the whole Windows 7/XP mode thing won’t work for me either until I buy a new computer.
So my question is basically what’s the best free method of testing IE6 on my current machine without uninstalling my current version of IE?
Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
The reason for the 90 day expiry is that you don’t need a separate XP licence as a 90 day licence is included free.
If you actually have your own XP licence you can set up Microsoft’s VM to run it without it expiring just as on virtualbox.
So Microsoft VM actually provides an extra option that isn’t available with virtualbox for when you don’t have an XP licence.
Ah I see. Thanks for explaining it. I’ll have another look at it tomorrow (it’s getting late here).
No. All three of the XP versions will install on XP, Vista, or Windows 7. Each of the XP versions comes with its own copy of XP and the Vista versions come with their own copy of Vista. There is no IE6 on Vista version because IE6 can’t run on Vista.
You have to use the IE6 on XP version to be able to test IE6 (unless you have an earlier operating system available that already has it).
Those operating system versions are NOT what the copies are compatible with - they are what they include it the disk image.
That one is no good for me because I’m running Vista so for Vista they’re only offering IE7 and 8 and IE6 appears to be only compatible with XP. I know I don’t usually bother with IE6 but for the right price I’ll deal with it (thank GOD for my CSS books). Might give the Super Preview thing a go. I have IETester but it crashes.
Check out Microsoft Super Preview for Internet Explorer. It’s free, and it’s only right for them to provide it since they bestowed IE6 on us in the first place 
I used IETester as well (on Vista), and it crashes regularly on me too if I have more than 1 tab open.
Like the previous poster said, there are many online solutions available. Many of the online solutions might be paid ones. but free ones also available. Expect very long time to get the shots in free services.
There is an application called IE-Tester ( browser ) which can simulate the rendering in various versions of IE. It works, but I don’t know to which extend it simulates the various versions properly. Get it in the below link:
There are some free options, suchs as
http://ipinfo.info/netrenderer/index.php
https://browserlab.adobe.com/en-us/index.html
Browserlab is free at the moment, but won’t always be.
Utilu IE collection is an excellent and free tool. If you need more browsers - check BrowserSeal, it even has Opera Mobile for PC
I can vouch for both IETester and the Spoon installers as decent testing methods, they aren’t as good as the real thing (of course) but they do the job fantastically
My favourite method is testing with IETester. Unfortunately it crashes every few minutes in my Windows environment on the Mac. Not sure why that happens.
The other web-based option would be to use a free service like Spoon’s Browser Sandbox. Good for quick testing in all browsers on Windows if you don’t have a Windows machine. But this is just for quick and dirty testing. For thorough testing, I recommend creating a separate virtual environment for each version of Windows.
If you have a Windows XP license, another possibility is to install a virtual machine running XP with Oracle’s VirtualBox. That will be resource-hungry but it will run IE6 as the real deal. Also, unlike Microsoft’s VM offerings, it won’t expire after 90 days
If you just want a visual representation, I recommend Adobe’s Browserlab. At least while it’s still free, it’s worth using. It’s quick and lest you know straigth away if there’s a problem.
The latest offering from Microsoft for running multiple versions of IE on one computer can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=21eabb90-958f-4b64-b5f1-73d0a413c8ef&displaylang=en
IE6, IE7, and IE8 are all available.