Ok, so I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to cross-browser compatibility testing. When I say geek, I mean I get excited when I find a tool that makes cross browser testing less painful and allows me to maintain a seated position while browser testing.
I’m talking about a tool that makes it easier to troubleshoot the peekaboo bug, three pixel text jog, double float-margin bug, and the myriad of other browser bugs that plague web developers. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… BORING! But hear me out here. When we develop websites, we start by making sure it looks perfect in Firefox, which is the most standard-compliant browser available. Ok, I think Opera has it beat, but it is not used much in the United States. But seriously, you have to be a REAL geek to use Opera. Next we look at it in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7), which is the most widely used web browser. Unfortunately, this is where things start to go wrong. It’s not usually catastrophic, but it does require some attention. When we start to look at it in IE 6, a thorn in all web developer’s side, this is when the real headaches start. In our office, we have a computer that is solely used for IE 6 testing. However, this computer is not located on my desk. So, when I attempt to fix a browser bug I have to physically get out of my chair and walk over to the “IE 6 computer” to hit refresh, shake my fist and see if my hack/solution has solved the issue. Generally, I have to walk over to this computer at least 2 dozen times to make it look presentable in IE 6. I’m no fitness enthusiast, hence my excitement when I found Adobe’s Browser Lab.
This ingenious tool now allows me to test several browsers (including the dreaded IE6) from the comfort of my chair. It’s got a really cool “onion skin” feature which allows you to lay one browser rendering on top of the other and toggle transparency for faster browser bug troubleshooting. Did I mention I don’t have to get out of my chair to do browser testing anymore?
Check out the new browser tool at – https://browserlab.adobe.com/. You know you want to do it.
