CSS Compatibility on IE 5, IE 6, IE 7, Firefox, Safari and Opera

How to make sure CSS works on all these browsers?

[cosmoyoda]

Hello world,

I don't want to be a "Software Racist" here, but I have to admit that I, as a Web Developer, HATE INTERNET EXPLORER!

I'm sorry I couldn't control myself, but when I work with CSS on my Mac, I can only test my site on Firefox, Safari and Opera. Unfortunately, there is no IE for the Mac, so I need to go downstairs and check my Mac on my PC all the time. :)

Even with a PC using IE 7, I still need to test on IE 6 and IE 5 as well! God, you see what I mean? It's quite a nightmare for web designers and developers :(

I was wondering if any of you know an easy way to check your site and see if it will work with all these browsers, specially IE 5, 6 and 7.

If you know any good CSS validation tools out there on the Web that would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Xapti]

Well yeah, pretty much all web developers, and many non-web developers dislike IE.

Well mac does have IE, but it's old and kinda buggy.
If you have a newer mac, you can set up a dual boot system... but chances are that wouldn't be very convienient if you already have a computer to test IE on.

I wouldn't bother testing for IE5 anymore. For IE6 and 7, you can run a Virtual machine on a windows machine, the virtual machine can boot up a windows with IE6.

There may also be windows emulators for mac, but I don't know anything about that.

[icky_thump]

there is also a free service out there.
i just tried it awhile ago, didn't investigate it thoroughly, but at a glance it looked like it worked out alright. problem was I had to queue for over an hour before I could see the results.

google browsershots (yes, as one word) and you'll find it straight away.

as far as the browser differnces, Xapti's got it right. It's just part of the game and IE is a royal pain in the rump! IE7 is vastly improved over 6 but still consumes lots of my time.

[cosmoyoda]

guys, thanks for the help. I will try to use the third-party softwares you recommended to run both IE 6 and IE 7.

I have also found an alternative solution to the problem. There is a browser out there called Maxthon 2.0 ( google it) that runs exactly as IE 6. It has proven to be really helpful, because now I can test my site on IE 7 and on Maxthon, which is equivalent to testing my site on both IE 6 and 7.