CODEWITHSUNDEEP
testingwindows-7windows-8cross-browser
Baumr
Baumr

Reputation: 6284

Browser testing on Windows 8?

I have a Mac and I am deciding whether to install Windows 7 or 8 on Boot Camp.

Is it possible to test websites inside actual windows of IE6+ and older Firefox/Chrome/Opera browsers with Windows 8?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 828

Answers (3)

David Storey
David Storey

Reputation: 30394

There are a couple of options that might work for you better than installing Windows 7 or 8 on bootcamp:

  1. Use a service such as BrowserStack. This costs money, but Microsoft provides 3 free months via Modern.ie
  2. Install virtual machines on your Mac. Microsoft makes these available for free, also via Modern.ie

Upvotes: 1

O'Rooney
O'Rooney

Reputation: 3080

You'll need a virtual machine within Windows 8 to run anything earlier than IE10, since Windows 8 only started with IE10. There are some hacks to make pages behave a bit "like" IE6 (or other browsers), but I doubt they are going to work well now you're reaching all the way back from IE10.

Firefox/Chrome/Opera will work OK, as they aren't integrated into the OS.

Upvotes: 1

Chris Kenst
Chris Kenst

Reputation: 279

I tried bootcamping a Core 2 Duo iMac a year or so ago with Windows 8 and it would cause regular crashes. It looks like there is an updated to Bootcamp (I was running the previous version 4) which supports Windows 8 so you could use either option.

If you use Windows 7 (like I did), you can install and run Windows Virtual PC with different versions of Windows and IE. The cool thing is Virtual PC has something called Integration Features which allows you to launch specific applications (like IE) from the virtual machines without being in the virtual machines. (Think virtual applications)

I do this. I have one Virtual PC with XP and IE6. I cloned it, upgraded it to IE7 and then did the same thing with IE8. Now I've got a Windows 7 machine with IE9 and virtual browsers of IE8, 7, and 6. I also run older versions of Firefox on those cloned XP machines.

If you use Windows 8 you can do the same thing, its just a little different procedure (see my comment below) because Windows 8 uses Hyper-V instead of Virtual PC. I prefer Virtual PC because of the Integration Features, with Windows 8 you'll have to use the Hyper-V console but you can do the same thing.

Upvotes: 1

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