Ever wished you had an easy way to see what you're site was looking like in different versions of Internet Explorer without having to set up a Virtual PC just to do it?
All of us as web developers have wanted to rip our arms off as we judiciously try to get our sites to look right in a myriad of browers, switching back and fro from IE to FireFox, etc, but it's not quite as simple to run differing versions of IE side by side. . . until now.
Before this, I either had to create Virtual PC's simply to install old versions of Internet Explorer or I had to waste my time waiting for screen shots of my site using BrowserShots.org
I recently ran across this nifty tool on TredoSoft.com that will install prior versions of IE on your computer without interfering with your current install.
It's a simple free download...you don't even have to register to get it. Click install and you'll be asked which prior versions of IE you want to install on your computer. Voila! Quick and painless.
Now, there's no more excuses for sites to look bad in any of the browsers! I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a burden honestly with all the hoopla we have to jump through just to get them to look right, but either way, it's another tool in the toolbox. Now, get out that CSS file and start fixing all the elements that wont render in IE6 or below with conditional hacks. Conditional hacks are only read by IE and are a good way to target those IE quirks that we all could do without. Just apply something like this in your CSS file:
for versions "Less Than or Equal to IE6" use something like this:
<!--[if lte IE 6]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie_hacks.css" />
<![endif]-->
or
<!--[if lte IE 6]>
.applySomeStyleHereForIE6OrLess{padding:0px;}
<![endif]-->
for versions "Less Than" IE 6 use something like the following:
<!--[if lt IE 6]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie_hacks.css" />
<![endif]-->
Note: The IE Developer toolbar doesn't work with IE 6 or below...so that sucks, but you're still better off than you were 5 minutes ago, right???