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Is there plans for Web Development Standalone Versions to Test Websites?

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Hi,

we are facing more and more issues with the rapidly changing versions of Firefox.

Since the release of version 4 there has been new versions released allmost monthly which makes it very difficult to develop websites with a consistant layout across FF versions.

I've tried installing standalone portable versions but it seems the FF engine always reverts to the primary engine installed on the machine.

I refused upgrading to 7.0.1 and am still using 6 vor development. The problem now is that I cannot test how the site looks in FF 7.0.1 unless I upgrade, which as a Web Developer can have several drawbacks as I then can't see how they are rendered in the previous versions.

Now the real issue is that I know for sure that there are layout issues in 7.0.1 that I cannot reproduce in IE6/7/8/9 or Chrome or FF6. This is annoying as I can't develop in the dark and I can't allways run to my boss asking to check if 1px has been adjusted right.

Is there anything out there like IETester? I've been searching an I just can't find anything like it for FF.

From the marketing perspective I can understand your goal with the major versioning but for us developers it's a pain in the ***.

Or am I overlooking something and FF Developertools have an option like IE where you can emulate previous FF versions?

This is a major issue and I am really lost right now. The only other option I see is hacking FF installations or installing several operating systems & several FF versions on a machine that is dedicated just for that.

Thanks in advance.

Greetings, David.

Hi, we are facing more and more issues with the rapidly changing versions of Firefox. Since the release of version 4 there has been new versions released allmost monthly which makes it very difficult to develop websites with a consistant layout across FF versions. I've tried installing standalone portable versions but it seems the FF engine always reverts to the primary engine installed on the machine. I refused upgrading to 7.0.1 and am still using 6 vor development. The problem now is that I cannot test how the site looks in FF 7.0.1 unless I upgrade, which as a Web Developer can have several drawbacks as I then can't see how they are rendered in the previous versions. Now the real issue is that I know for sure that there are layout issues in 7.0.1 that I cannot reproduce in IE6/7/8/9 or Chrome or FF6. This is annoying as I can't develop in the dark and I can't allways run to my boss asking to check if 1px has been adjusted right. Is there anything out there like IETester? I've been searching an I just can't find anything like it for FF. From the marketing perspective I can understand your goal with the major versioning but for us developers it's a pain in the ***. Or am I overlooking something and FF Developertools have an option like IE where you can emulate previous FF versions? This is a major issue and I am really lost right now. The only other option I see is hacking FF installations or installing several operating systems & several FF versions on a machine that is dedicated just for that. Thanks in advance. Greetings, David.

All Replies (1)

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No, there aren't any plans for web development standalone test versions of Firefox.

This is the closest that I have seen. http://utilu.com/UtiluMFC/


Unlike IE, you can have multiple versions of Firefox installed and even use them at the same time. The only real trick is that you have a separate Program Files folder for each version, a separate Profile for each version, and make sure each version is launched with the appropriate Profile each time. To run them at the same time a simple command line switch is all that is needed to run the separate processes. And there is a new Profile Manager XUL Runner program available to make all this quite easy to do.
I have Firefox 2.0.0.20, 3.0.19, 3.5.19, 3.6.22, 4.0.1, 5.0, 6.0.2, 7.0.1, 8.0b1, Aurora 9.0a2, and Nightly 10.0a1 currently installed.

You can also use multiple versions of Firefox Portable Edition, which eliminates the need for messing with Profiles for each version. Firefox Portable installs in its' own folder set and automatically creates a new Profile for each installation and won't affect any other Firefox Portable installation. But FPE isn't as easy to run with multiple simultaneous versions. http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable