Is there a way to do this? I currently don't want to go install the new one because it will most probably overwrite i.e. 8. Web development needs to make sure that it is acceptable on common browsers and 8 is still a big part of the market.
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This is not a programming question. – vitaut Jun 02 '12 at 00:16
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2You can easily set the "Browser mode" in IE. So, IE9, for instance, contains IE9, IE8, and IE7, all in one. Just open the F12 tools and click on "Browser mode". – Šime Vidas Jun 02 '12 at 00:28
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Search for "IETester" if this needs to be done on one machine. – Jun 02 '12 at 00:31
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I have had good luck in the past with IETester:
IETester is a free (both for personal and professional usage) WebBrowser that allows you to have the rendering and javascript engines of IE10 preview, IE9, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP, as well as the installed IE in the same process.
It is the best [and only] method I know of actually getting simultaneous IE versions running in the same Windows installation: it is actually using the different IE engines so it's not "IE9 pretending to be IE8".
IETester isn't quite as isolated as using separate VMs with different windows/IE versions installed, but it has worked well for me and is a much more practical solution in many cases.
Happy coding.
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Good suggestion but it's very buggy and wasn't usable in my case. However the Debug Toolbar by the same site, is proving to be very useful, as it allows you to run IE in the various modes and provides some firebug like tools. – Phill Healey Mar 31 '14 at 09:56
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2Please do not use IETester. It is buggy and does not provide accurate results – LocalPCGuy Aug 26 '14 at 19:24
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You can use IE9 to emulate IE8, but its not perfect. The only true solution is to use a VM.
Microsoft has IE 'images' that you can use: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11575. I've found them to be somewhat of a pain, and not stable. Maybe YMWV.
If you have a windows disk that you could install into a VM, then you could run that VM and install the IE8 on that.
mtyson
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Currently I'm using IE10 to test most compatibility issues with previous versions. it's not PERFECT, but I've found that for most issues, it works fine. To test as if you're in IE8, open up IE and hit F12. This should open up your Development Tools window. At the top, you'll see your normal dropdowns, then a pipe, then Browser mode: IE10 - click on that then select whichever version you want to emulate.
Again - this has worked MOSTLY for me, but developing in Backbone & Marionette, I've found a few issues that it doesn't pick up.
Ben S
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Unfortunately, this doesn't work for IE11. In IE10, Microsoft stopped the ability to use conditional comments; in IE11, document modes don't exist. Well, they do exist, but the program doesn't seem to actually differentiate them. For example, you can select 'IE8 document mode', but any conditional comments that would normally be used by IE8, are simply ignored and treated like they don't exist. Way to go Microsoft; you 'fixed' a feature that wasn't broken in IE10! Typical. – DylRicho Jan 18 '14 at 17:16