title: Internet Explorer versions testing in February 2014: browserstack, saucelabs, ghostLab, spoon & other tools
body: <p>I am currently (February 2014) trying to find the best tool to perform <strong>Internet Explorer versions testing (IE8, IE9, and so on)</strong>.</p>
  
  <p>I found that my options were the following:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>Run any web browsers instantly from the web, using: <a href="http://www.browserstack.com/" rel="nofollow">www.browserstack.com</a>, <a href="https://saucelabs.com" rel="nofollow">saucelabs.com</a> , <a href="http://vanamco.com/ghostlab/" rel="nofollow">ghostLab</a> or <a href="http://www.spoon.net" rel="nofollow">www.spoon.net</a></p></li>
  <li><p>Run IE VMs from Modern.IE project (for IE web browsers testing)</p></li>
  <li><p>One Windows VM + multiple standalone versions of Internet Explorer using <a href="http://utilu.com/IECollection/" rel="nofollow">http://utilu.com/IECollection/</a> (for IE web browsers testing)</p></li>
  <li><p>Dedicated Windows VMs for each IE version (for IE web browsers testing)</p>
  
  <p>4.a) <em>Run multiple Windows XP mode (on Windows 7):</em> "Windows XP Mode is an optional downloaded feature of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions that provides you a pre-installed image of Windows XP SP3 that you run using Windows Virtual PC". You run multiple Windows XP mode, each having a different version of IE8 installed. read more <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/02/04/testing-multiple-versions-of-ie-on-one-pc.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/02/04/testing-multiple-versions-of-ie-on-one-pc.aspx</a> and <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7" rel="nofollow">http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/install-and-use-windows-xp-mode-in-windows-7</a></p>
  
  <p>4.b) <em>Run multiple MS Windows XP SP3 VMs with a VM software:</em> You can use VirtualBox, VMware, etc...</p></li>
  <li><p>DO NOT USE (from what I read across many blogs &amp; SO posts):</p>
  
  <p>5.a) IETester: inconsistencies with the "real" IE browsers</p>
  
  <p>5.b) Tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE: inconsistencies with the "real" IE browsers</p>
  
  <p>5.c) And any other emulators who try to reinvent the wheel.</p>
  
  <p>5.d) Windows VPC + timebomb image: resources required circa 12GB! <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11575" rel="nofollow">http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11575</a></p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Browserstack, SauceLabs &amp; Spoon sound such an easier way to test my website! No setup required, just sign up &amp; start playing.</p>
  
  <p>Browserstack seems much better than Spoon though, maybe I am wrong, but <strong>Browserstack has hundreds (litterally) of web browsers</strong>. And I could not find old versions of IE in Spoon (maybe I missed something).</p>
  
  <p>On top of that BrowserStack provides mobile &amp; tablet web browser testing! I found it super slow but hey, it's still better than a screenshot. I suspect it does not get any faster once you are on a paid plan.</p>
  
  <p><strong>EDIT:</strong> I just came across <a href="https://saucelabs.com" rel="nofollow">SauceLabs</a> which seems to be even better than BrowserStack (for manual testing), and they also cover many web browsers &amp; tablet &amp; mobile devices. Except that it is faster to use a mobile browser on Saucelab than BrowserStack, on the free trial version (this may change when you upgrade for a paid account?).</p>
  
  <p>For those interested, <strong>Microsoft is now "supporting" browserstack by letting you have a free 3 months trial (for Windows OS web browsers) <a href="http://www.modern.ie/en-us/tools" rel="nofollow">http://www.modern.ie/en-us/tools</a></strong></p>
  
  <p>So my question is: did I miss something? or is there something even better than one of these tools/tehchniques I listed here?</p>