download old browsers revisited

[laloula webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

I did find a post here on this topic indicating that you cannot run more than one version of IE on an operating system. Is this also true of Netscape.?

I realize that IE is about 95% market share, but I want to ensure that the 5% users out there who use older versions of both the biggies, and, of course, the occasional Opera or Mozilla, are reachable--at least for certain sites.

I understand that the best way to do that is through browser sniffing and alternative CSS links, but not sure how to test if I can't have multiple browsers on my one computer. I have trial copies of old IE and NS from a book CD, but they don't seem to install when i run the executables. Do you have to have half a dozen machines?

TIA, Laura

[Sam Poikail]

I believe IE is the only browser that you can only have one version of on a
machine, and that is because it is so linked to the operating system. The
others you can load multiple versions of (in different install directories,
of course).

If you have older browser versions that won't install, you can try
downloading new copies of the install programs for various browsers at
[url]http://browsers.evolt.org/[/url] .

>Do you have to have half a dozen machines?

No, you can load up one machine with a single install of IE (most popular
version for your target audience) and the most popular versions of other
browsers... if you have a machine left over for the next most popular
version IE, that should be fine...

Hope that helps...

Cheers,
Sam

P.S. As a footnote... there is a new company that provides (on a usage
basis) a service where you provide a URL and they provide you with
screenshots and reports for what your page will look like on a variety of
browsers. They actually have "farms" of machines that poll for requests and
browse sites under program control and return screenshots/reports to the
requestor after they have completed their browsing. More information on
this rather unique service can be found at [url]http://www.browsercam.com/[/url] .

"laloula" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:bfq684$t3v$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> I did find a post here on this topic indicating that you cannot run more

than one version of IE on an operating system. Is this also true of
Netscape.?

>
> I realize that IE is about 95% market share, but I want to ensure that the

5% users out there who use older versions of both the biggies, and, of
course, the occasional Opera or Mozilla, are reachable--at least for certain
sites.

>
> I understand that the best way to do that is through browser sniffing and

alternative CSS links, but not sure how to test if I can't have multiple
browsers on my one computer. I have trial copies of old IE and NS from a
book CD, but they don't seem to install when i run the executables. Do you
have to have half a dozen machines?

>
> TIA, Laura
>
>