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I am a web developer. I would like to view my web design on IE(6 - latest). Is there a quick way to view it?

Thanks in advance

EDIT:

I already have a Windows OS on my Mac using VirtualBox. However, I dont want to load such heavy program just to preview IE :( I need an alternative or faster way to view IE

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It is of note that even Microsoft wants IE6 dead: ie6countdown.com And if you look at that chart, only 0.4% use it in the USA. So if you aren't making websites in Chinese, you'd be alienating a tiny, tiny fraction of people. – cksum Aug 31 '11 at 8:08
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@cksum: I am aware of it. But my client still using IE6 (although I tried to persuade him to change), thus, I have no choice, but make it compatible to IE 6 too (which is pain-in-ass!!!arggg). My client is from Asian – jiali Aug 31 '11 at 8:14
send them the link above ;) Sorry, AFAIK, there is no way to faithfully emulate the browser on OS X without using something like Virtual box (which is a lot room/work for something so trivial). You can read more about it here: blog.affirmix.com/2009/04/01/… – cksum Aug 31 '11 at 8:23
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FYI - The IE6 engine is what is used in the most prominent browser in China. So all browser snobbery must stop if Asia is brought into the equation. – Graham Aug 31 '11 at 12:25
It's not browser snobbery; it's a legitimate recognition that IE6 is very obsolete and that making modern web designs compatible with it is difficult or impossible. – Reid Sep 6 '11 at 17:28

6 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

You can either install Windows as a virtual machine (eg. VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop) or on a Bootcamp partition. Note that this requires a Windows license and media for installing. In Windows you can then install IETester for example.

There are some online services that will make screenshots for you in said browsers like Adobe Browserlab (https://browserlab.adobe.com/). Though that might not be ideal when wanting to quickly debug some problems.

There are even services where you connect to a remote VNC instance running a selected Windows configuration like http://www.browsercam.com/. But those generally do not come free to my knowledge.

<= browsercam.com will be shut down FEB 1, 2013 <= http://www.browsercam.com/important-message/

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I already installed a windows OS on virtualbox, alternative to VMWare and Parallel. But that requires some time to load the windows, thats why I asked about a "quick" way to view it. Sorry for not making myself clear. I have search about a program called "wine", not sure if its okay to use. – jiali Aug 31 '11 at 8:30
I'm not sure there will be anything quicker apart from running Windows instead of Mac. – Gerry Aug 31 '11 at 8:30
Seems like: browserlab.adobe.com is the solution I like so far (but it requires internet connection and cant play video file :( ) – jiali Aug 31 '11 at 8:48
So you ALREADY have a virtual with Windows and you are asking for something "faster"? Just start up the darn virtual when you sit down to do web development! – Graham Aug 31 '11 at 12:27
up vote 6 down vote

Wine claims to support IE 6, 7, and 8 with varying levels of efficacy.

It's not a simple solution, but it sure is a hell of a lot lighter-weight then a VM, and it effectively runs the full browser on OSX.

You need to be at least somewhat familiar with the command line to get anywhere with Wine, though.

Crossover Mac is basically a MacOS GUI for wine. It has the same capabilities as wine, but the GUI makes installing things much easier. On the other hand, it's not free.

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up vote 4 down vote

Buy a cheap used Windows XP Pro box (or rent a Windows VM from some cloud if you want to be more "green") and just leave it running. Use a Remote Desktop or VNC viewer to view IE on it from your Mac. No big load on your Mac and little boot up time if you just leave it running.

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up vote 3 down vote

Microsoft actually has virtual machines you can download (Windows XP, Vista, and 7) just for testing IE compatibility: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=11575

This isn't a 'fast' solution but I think it is the best and supported solution. It is 'heavy' but I don't think there is a way around it. It is just part of the job if you need to support IE.

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up vote 2 down vote

The website http://browsershots.org/ lets you preview a webpage in IE, Safari, Firefox, Chrome and other browsers on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows and BSD.

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1  
Paying to use someone else's computers is a great way tohave coverage to see renders across a range of browsers that you can't practically maintain yourself. – bmike♦ Aug 31 '11 at 14:25
up vote 0 down vote

http://browserling.com/ will let you try several browsers live, from the comfort of your browser. You get 10 minute sessions for free or you can buy a subscription.

It's made out of pure awesome.

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