I’m in need of a new way to test in IE - using my husband’s PC is inconvenient at best.
Things like Virtual Box, VWWare and Parallels all kind of scare me. I don’t need PC nightmares on my Mac - even though all I would ever use it for is testing my webdesigns and nothing else at all - EVER.
So the first question is - are my concerns about Virtual Windows on OSX unwarranted? I’ve read mixed reports.
For slightly more, one could get something like this (used) for $99.
HP DX5150 Desktop PC - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2GHz, 1GB DDR, 40GB HDD, DVD-ROM, Windows XP Pro (Off-Lease)
DVI/VGA - 10/100/1000Mbps LAN - 8 USB ports
What are other Freeway users doing to test in IE?
And yes, there are so many IE iterations - it’s impossible to test them all - so maybe we skip getting a PC and just “trust” Freeway to generate sites that will work in most modern versions of all browsers? :-/
I wouldn’t buy a PC to test with, not unless you intend to either never connect it to the Internet (only test locally), or you plan to invest the time or coin to keep it up to date.
As long as you never hand-code anything in the Extended dialog, only ever draw stuff and let Freeway work out the code, it is genuinely hard to make a page with Freeway that IE can’t handle. More caveats: Actions can make the page non-standard, IE can and does trip over its shoelaces on an otherwise W3C-valid page, there are no guarantees to be had in this business. But happy news – IE’s share is dropping like a jumbo jet with its engines cut.
Walter
On May 4, 2012, at 5:28 PM, Karen E wrote:
And yes, there are so many IE iterations - it’s impossible to test them all - so maybe we skip getting a PC and just “trust” Freeway to generate sites that will work in most modern versions of all browsers? :-/
Right, I think the big platform focus these days is mobile deployment and
responsive design. Just throw a few standard browser hacks at IE for old
times sake, then move on to the new challenges.
–
Ernie Simpson
On Fri, May 4, 2012 at 5:39 PM, Walter Lee Davis email@hidden wrote:
I wouldn’t buy a PC to test with, not unless you intend to either never
connect it to the Internet (only test locally), or you plan to invest the
time or coin to keep it up to date.
…IE’s share is dropping like a jumbo jet with its engines cut.
I’m in need of a new way to test in IE - using my husband’s PC is
inconvenient at best.
Things like Virtual Box, VWWare and Parallels all kind of scare me.
I don’t need PC nightmares on my Mac - even though all I would ever
use it for is testing my webdesigns and nothing else at all - EVER.
So the first question is - are my concerns about Virtual Windows on
OSX unwarranted? I’ve read mixed reports.
When running one of these emulators, from the Mac point of view the
‘Windows’ and PC applications are the emulator’s data, not software.
If you install an emulator, run it, and install Windows on it,
Windows is isolated from the Mac unless you deliberately provide a
Mac Volume for the Windows system to use as a disc drive. Everything
that is Windows - OS, its virtual disc drives, its applications and
data - all live within a Mac data file that’s just another data file.
The PC nightmares never get on the Mac itself.
If you run up Windows under emulation while connected to the Internet
you should run at least a free virus protection app on it, but just
for Windows protection to save you hassle. If you create a snapshot
of your freshly installed Windows system then when you get something
nasty you just scrap the corrupted one and continue with a duplicate
of the snapshot. It won’t initially be up to date Windows-wise, but
it soon will be when it’s on line.
I run XP under VMWare on a 4 core iMac with 8GB memory along with FW,
Safari, FF, Mail and a few occasional small things without problem. I
wouldn’t run it on a 2GB system.
David
–
David Ledger - Freelance Unix Sysadmin in the UK.
HP-UX specialist of hpUG technical user group (www.hpug.org.uk)
email@hidden www.ivdcs.co.uk
Thank you Walter, Ernie and David - all very helpful.
I do really want to avoid getting a dedicated a PC for testing, so maybe the next time an emulator comes up on sale I’ll consider it - but even at that point, one is faced with choosing WinOS/browser combinations. IE9-10 require Vista/7 for instance - but those browsers have less market share. XP/IE7-8 would be a safer bet for wider audience - even if the market share is dropping out of the sky! In the end we hope to make everything nice even for the least common denominator.
Another idea would be to recruit beta viewers to provide browser/user
feedback. You could set up online surveys to collect and automate feedback
to enhance your design process.
You could recruit residents from retirement homes… they likely have old IE
browsers, right? Or prison labor… they’d be just as cheap and desperate for
outside contact. Grade school kids from anywhere in the deep south, and
call it “work experience”…
Just some creative thinking to help out
–
Ernie Simpson
On Sat, May 5, 2012 at 6:54 AM, Karen E email@hidden wrote:
Thank you Walter, Ernie and David - all very helpful.
I do really want to avoid getting a dedicated a PC for testing, so maybe
the next time an emulator comes up on sale I’ll consider it - but even at
that point, one is faced with choosing WinOS/browser combinations. IE9-10
require Vista/7 for instance - but those browsers have less market share.
XP/IE7-8 would be a safer bet for wider audience - even if the market
share is dropping out of the sky! In the end we hope to make everything
nice even for the least common denominator.
