Installing older versions of IE

... wanted for testing purposes...

[troels nybo nielsen]

A substantial part of my visitors use museum pieces like IE 5 and even IE 4 to browse my websites. I am in the proces of changing the design using CSS and I have read that this may create problems in older browsers. My first CSS file validates with W3C's testing tool and it looks fine in Opera 6, Mozilla 1 (who would want Netscape when Mozilla is around?) and IE 6. I would like to see how it looks in those older versions of IE but my Windows 2K does not appreciate my trying to install them. Any ideas?

[Nick_W]

Only way I know of is to have multiple partitions and run Win on each of them with a different version of IE on eash :(

One solution I've found though is to install IE5 (or whatever lowest one you need) and keep the installer handy. Then go and install IE6. When you want to test in IR5 go to (on win98) start->programs->accessories->system-tools->system information -- and chose Internet Explorer.

There you have an option to roll back to a previous version of IE - Voilla!

When you're done, click the IE6 installer and it won't take more than 2mins to update again as the files are still on your machine...

HTH

Nick

[troels nybo nielsen]

Sounds complicated. The people from Microsft have a way of making actions difficult or impossible for customers who want to take their own decisions. (In contrast it is _very_ easy to install several versions of Netscape and Opera on the same partition.)

I believe that there are other browsers which actually use an IE engine. How about installing old versions of such browsers if one can find them?

[tedster]

other browsers which actually use an IE engine

I believe that these browsers actually tap into the IE engine that is already on your machine - in other words these browsers install their own interface, but for the working code they use what's already there on your machine.

This situation is created by Internet Explorer's notorious "integration" into the Windows OS. It was one of the main bits of lawsuit fodder.

[troels nybo nielsen]

I have personally solved the problem with a Win95 on another HD, but I found a solution that might be useful to some webmasters. I have learned to be _velly_velly_cautious_ with URL dropping here on WW ;), but if you google on the term "browsercam" you should be able to very easily find the service that I'm speaking of. I must stress that I have nothing to do with the service and I haven't tested it. Personally I would find it a bit too costly for my limited means and needs, but it may very well be relevant for webmasters with larger budgets and larger needs. It shure looks interesting.