Run IE6, IE7 and IE8 side by side
March 19th, 2009
Today Internet Explorer 8 was released by Microsoft. This is of course great news for any frontend developer, but as always there is a downside to any new browser release – it’s one more browser you need to test your work in. Actually it’s more of a problem with Internet Explorer than any other browser – primarily because of Windows inability to have multiple versions of it installed at the same time.
Even though every other website is running a campaign to make people upgrade from IE6, most frontend developers know it can take at least a couple of months – or in worst case – till the end of 2009, before we’re able to completely justify not testing in IE6. Some customers might even continue to demand support for it for whatever reason.
Luckily, there’s a way you can have IE6, IE7 and IE8 installed at the same time (actually all versions of IE from version 3 up to 8, if that rocks your boat).
Screenshot of IE6, IE7 and IE8 running side by side
First of, I did this on an English version of Windows XP Pro SP3 – on a VMWare Fusion installation no less. I wasn’t able to make it work on Windows Vista or Windows 7, so your milage may vary.
(This is the order I installed stuff, although it might work in any order)
- Download Multiple IE Installer and install IE6
(and any pre-IE6 version you might like) - Download and install Internet Explorer 8
(This will replace your current default IE installation on Windows – mine was IE7) - Download and install Internet Explorer 7 Standalone Installer
(It must be the installer – it dosen’t work with the “Program only”-version)
And there you have it – IE6, IE7 and IE8 running side by side.
Enjoy your final days with IE6 
Update: There might be an issue with entering text in input-fields and selecting text in IE6 and IE7