Good day! I have got a question about the Internet Explorer 9. Can anyone tell me if its document and browser mode (I mean rendering as Internet Explorer 8 and 7 when chosen) is appropriate to test HTML and CSS in different versions of the browser?
I used to use something like Multiple IE on my virtual Windows machine, but my colleague use the Internet Explorer 9 to test HTML and CSS “directly”. So none of us has a sense of correctness of the chosen solution.
So, that’s the question.
In my subjective experience, IE9’s 8/7 “Browser Modes” have always been an accurate reflection of the actual browsers – at least for pure HTML/CSS.
However, there are subtle differences when it comes to JavaScript, see the “Differences between IE8 Compatibility View and IE7” section here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2009/03/12/site-compatibility-and-ie8.aspx
I usually test with IE9’s older “Browser Modes”, but if I’m feeling paranoid or I want to be absolutely sure, I use my virtual machines.