Run Multiple Versions of IE
As I just spent a bit longer that I wanted try to share my local connection with the IE Team’s new Virtual PC distribution of IE6, I came across a link down in the comments if of IE Team blog.
Ever wanted to test your website in various versions of Internet Explorer?
It is possible to run Internet Explorer in standalone mode without having to over-write previous versions thanks to Joe Maddalone who came up with a way of achieving that in November 2003. Basically, Internet Explorer is run by exploiting a known workaround to DLL hell – which was introduced in Windows 2000 and later versions – called DLL redirection.
Manfred Staudinger perfected the standalone versions by adding IE version numbers to the title bar of the standalone browser window. Moreover, by removing the “IE” key in the registry subkey
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Version Vector]Internet Explore defaulted to respecting conditional comments based on the version number prebuilt in the program.
Some things to point out though…
- Sometimes IE5, IE5.5 and IE6 crash unexpectedly.
- The address bar in Internet Explorer 4.01 does not work. This is due to a missing file “
browseui.dll“. If you have that file with version number “4.72.3612.1706” let me know. As a workaround, press CONTROL+O and enter the address you want to visit there.- Microsoft supplemental EULA says :
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A VALID EULA FOR ANY "OS PRODUCT", YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO INSTALL, COPY, OR OTHERWISE USE THE OS COMPONENTS AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS UNDER THIS SUPPLEMENTAL EULA.
Still, it’s a lot better of a solution than dealing with Virtual PC.
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