options for testing Internet Explorer on a mac

[Ant]

Figured I would start a new topic on this.

 

I have all macs.

 

What are my options for testing in IE?

 

I keep reading about a bunch of ways but wanted to hear some other thoughts and first hand experiences.

 

So far "wine bottler" is the only way I have tried and that was very buggy and slow. Now i need to uninstall.

 

I read this http://osxdaily.com/2011/09/04/internet-explorer-for-mac-ie7-ie8-ie-9-free/

but don't know if thats got major flaws to it as well.

 

Right now I'm thinking i should ask around and see if a friend has an old pc laptop thats functional enough just to run IE that they are willing to sell.

 

Thoughts?

 

What do you guys do?

 

A.

[grabenair]

Have you tried Virtual Operating System. This lets you put different OS on your computer. Basically what this does is let you run any OS that you want on any computer. Google it and you will find all the info that you need to install it.

[falkencreative]

I use VMWareFusion to run Windows. You still have to have a valid copy of Windows, but it allows you to run both Mac OSX and Windows at the same time.

[Ant]

Do either of those options require me to restart/reboot when I want to run IE?

 

Do those options also allow the testing of older IE versions?

 

Right now I commandeered a PC and it's running IE 9. In 9 the website looks great, but I know there were some problems when I saw it in an earlier version of IE. Not sure what version it was though.

 

A.

[falkencreative]

VMWareFusion and a similar product, Parallels Desktop, both don't require rebooting.

 

What version of IE you have depends on Windows and whether you have updated IE -- not anything to do with what app you are using to run Windows. In my case, I have two versions -- an older version of XP that allows me to run IE6 and 8, and Vista that's running IE 9. Then again, I have pretty much dropped IE6 support, so I don't use it that much. Keep in mind that the IE developer tools allow you to run a "compatibility" mode that should show you what the website looks like in an older version of IE. I think IE9 supports compatibility modes for IE7 and 8.

[grabenair]

Just had a thought, you mentioned buying a windows lap top from a friend. Well at my local pawnshop I can but a laptop for under 200 bucks. Just an option for you.

[Ant]

Ok.

 

Thanks.

 

One other question.

 

When in IE9 there is the developer tools.

 

I have 2 options.

 

Browser mode and Document mode.

 

Do I set the DOCUMENT MODE to IE 9 Standards and then use the browser mode to toggle between IE7-IE8 to test my site in those versions?

 

 

I'm asking because I thought i could just toggle between versions. BUT the document mode option is throwing me off. If I toggle randomly between those 2 options in different groups funky things happen.

 

A.