Use Multiple Internet Explorer Versions Simultaneously

Webmasters never know what they are up to when testing websites in various versions of Internet Explorer. It might look fine in Internet Explorer 6 but Internet Explorer 8 might break it. It is therefor of uttermost importance to test a website in different versions of Internet Explorer before releasing it to the public.

The problem begins when the webmaster realizes that Microsoft has made it virtually impossible to install and use different versions of Internet Explorer on the same computer system. Unlike Firefox or Opera where it is possible to install different versions separately that option has been neglected in Internet Explorer.

A first step in the right direction was the IETester tool which emulated various Internet Explorer versions in one interface making it possible to view websites with different Internet Explorer versions.

The next step however is the Internet Explorer Collection. The collection comes with several Internet Explorer versions from Internet Explorer 1 to Internet Explorer 8 in one installation package. It does include the highly popular Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7.

The best part is that you can pick the Internet Explorer versions that you want and install them on your system separately which in turn means that it is possible to test a website in each version of Internet Explorer independently.

After downloading Internet Explorer Collection the user is presented with several check boxes during installation which when selected install the specific version of Internet Explorer.

It does not make much sense to install the early versions, at least when website testing is the main consideration for installing the different versions. It could be nice for a nostalgic trip however or just for fun to see how fast (or not) those old versions were.

Each version of Internet Explorer that has been installed on the system because accessible through the Windows Start Menu. A click on the Internet Explorer icon will launch that version, it is even possible to launch and run several versions of Internet Explorer simultaneously.

The developer of Internet Explorer Collection is shy on words because there is virtually no information on his website about the technique that he uses to run the Internet Explorer versions on the same computer system.