Comments on: Test your designs in multiple O/S and browsers the easy way… http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/ thoughts on | comments about | examples of } web design trends. Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:46:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 By: Thomas Silkjær http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4199 Thomas Silkjær Tue, 19 Sep 2006 06:41:11 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4199 I really just have to say, that in my honest opinion, screenshots are never the good choice for correcting flaws. There is many alternatives of checking in multiple browsers - are you a mac-user, you can either run Virtual PC, or with an intel mac, windows itself. The other way around, there is a windows-browser based on the safari engine etc. When checked through manually, browsershots can be used to make tests in the long run, to make sure everything still looks as it should. Actually a friend is talking about setting up such a service with remote desktoping, so it would be possible to test things out realtime in other OS'es. I really just have to say, that in my honest opinion, screenshots are never the good choice for correcting flaws.

There is many alternatives of checking in multiple browsers - are you a mac-user, you can either run Virtual PC, or with an intel mac, windows itself. The other way around, there is a windows-browser based on the safari engine etc.

When checked through manually, browsershots can be used to make tests in the long run, to make sure everything still looks as it should.

Actually a friend is talking about setting up such a service with remote desktoping, so it would be possible to test things out realtime in other OS’es.

]]> By: Matt Robin http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4213 Matt Robin Tue, 19 Sep 2006 13:17:06 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4213 That's really weird that IE6 in Windows - probably the most-used browser on the most-used OS on the planet isn't even an option! This really is aimed more at Linux user with a slight head-nod in the direction of Microsoft Windows, and Apple Mac OS X. Another site worth considering (although there is a fee) is SiteVista: http://www.sitevista.com/ ...an excellent service for people who want to take their testing seriously. That’s really weird that IE6 in Windows - probably the most-used browser on the most-used OS on the planet isn’t even an option! This really is aimed more at Linux user with a slight head-nod in the direction of Microsoft Windows, and Apple Mac OS X.

Another site worth considering (although there is a fee) is SiteVista: http://www.sitevista.com/

…an excellent service for people who want to take their testing seriously.

]]> By: Andrew Faulkner http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4220 Andrew Faulkner Tue, 19 Sep 2006 16:29:10 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4220 Or maybe it's aimed at the crowd that have IE6 on Windows and want to test other browsers without setting up virtual PCs etc? Or maybe it’s aimed at the crowd that have IE6 on Windows and want to test other browsers without setting up virtual PCs etc?

]]> By: Chris http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4234 Chris Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:43:33 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4234 There's also BrowserCam: <a href="http://browsercam.com/" rel="nofollow">http://browsercam.com/</a>. You can capture for any browser with reasonable market share on Linux, OS X, or Windows. Various screen sizes, timers before it captures to allow long loading pages to finish, etc... some plans even include VNC Remoting to do interactive testing. If you're not up for the prices, there's usually someone running a campaign on Fundable (<a href="http://fundable.org" rel="nofollow">http://fundable.org</a>) to split a corporate account. There’s also BrowserCam: http://browsercam.com/.

You can capture for any browser with reasonable market share on Linux, OS X, or Windows. Various screen sizes, timers before it captures to allow long loading pages to finish, etc… some plans even include VNC Remoting to do interactive testing. If you’re not up for the prices, there’s usually someone running a campaign on Fundable (http://fundable.org) to split a corporate account.

]]> By: Michael Murphy http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4251 Michael Murphy Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:23:55 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4251 @Chris- I know Johann cited browsercam as one application that inspired him to create browsershots. @Chris-
I know Johann cited browsercam as one application that inspired him to create browsershots.

]]> By: Johan http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4255 Johan Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:59:16 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4255 The whole issue is that you cannot rely on screenshots to see how a webpage really behaves. You can guess some CSS bugs, eg IE margin problems, float drops. But you cannot test a script, bump up fontsize, and scroll a page. It is really the last resort. And it is very limited plus time consuming, since you need the wait a while. Nothing beats the real thing. The whole issue is that you cannot rely on screenshots to see how a webpage really behaves. You can guess some CSS bugs, eg IE margin problems, float drops. But you cannot test a script, bump up fontsize, and scroll a page.

It is really the last resort. And it is very limited plus time consuming, since you need the wait a while.

Nothing beats the real thing.

]]> By: garrett http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4288 garrett Wed, 20 Sep 2006 16:25:09 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4288 What I've taken to doing lately, for testing in IE in particular, is to use VNC to connect with the laptop at the other end of the house. This way I can check everything in IE and Camino, without having to give up my G5 :) What I’ve taken to doing lately, for testing in IE in particular, is to use VNC to connect with the laptop at the other end of the house. This way I can check everything in IE and Camino, without having to give up my G5 :)

]]> By: Joyrex http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4318 Joyrex Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:48:58 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4318 Being a recent convert to an Intel Mac, I find that using Parallels desktop with VMs of WinXP helps me tremendously in visually troubleshooting my cross-browser sites. Parallels is a low-cost, easy to implement solution that (I think) any serious web designer with cross-platform consistency in mind should explore. Being a recent convert to an Intel Mac, I find that using Parallels desktop with VMs of WinXP helps me tremendously in visually troubleshooting my cross-browser sites. Parallels is a low-cost, easy to implement solution that (I think) any serious web designer with cross-platform consistency in mind should explore.

]]> By: Michael Murphy http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4369 Michael Murphy Thu, 21 Sep 2006 10:04:36 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4369 Thanks for all the great comments. I didn't realize there were so many other options. Thanks for all the great comments. I didn’t realize there were so many other options.

]]> By: Terry Ng http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4536 Terry Ng Sun, 24 Sep 2006 09:06:30 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-4536 Wonderful find! I just tested it out and am glad that standards for the most part have really come a long way in making things consistent between multiple browsers and platforms. Wonderful find! I just tested it out and am glad that standards for the most part have really come a long way in making things consistent between multiple browsers and platforms.

]]> By: pollyx http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-10711 pollyx Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:07:15 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-10711 At least for IE7 and IE6 there is a new, faster rendering alternative: <a href="http://ipinfo.info/html-web-renderer/" rel="nofollow">IE Web Renderer</a>. Images are destroyed immediately after rendering, so privacy should not be a concern with this service. At least for IE7 and IE6 there is a new, faster rendering alternative: IE Web Renderer. Images are destroyed immediately after rendering, so privacy should not be a concern with this service.

]]> By: WDG http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-206554 WDG Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:39:36 +0000 http://fadtastic.net/2006/09/19/test-your-designs-in-multiple-os-and-browsers-the-easy-way/#comment-206554 As someone already mentioned here, a better alternative to Browsershots is installing an emulator or a virtual machine. I've just downloaded "Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image":http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=enI'm a webdesigner and need to test my designs in IE6 which's still being used by many and I have IE7 installed.  As someone already mentioned here, a better alternative to Browsershots is installing an emulator or a virtual machine. I’ve just downloaded "Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image":http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=enI’m a webdesigner and need to test my designs in IE6 which’s still being used by many and I have IE7 installed. 

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