I am always looking for new and easy ways to test websites I have created in all the modern browsers, and recently stumbled across ‘spoon‘.

In a nutshell spoon gives you the ability to run any app virtually, with no complex setup or install.  Simply download and install the spoon plug-in and you’re ready to run a huge selection of open source apps for free including web browsers, media editors, audio players, office suites and the list goes on.

Obviously this appealed to me and certainly seemed like a great way to test my web projects;  with its support for all major versions of IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera it would make my life so much easier and bring a more consistent look to my designs across all platforms.  The great thing is that once you have downloaded and installed the plug-in you are only a few clicks away from running any open source app virtually, and for cross browser testing I have been hard pushed to find anything better.

As well as running free open source apps spoon does offer a premium service where developers are able to run and test their own applications.

However, as with most things there are always a few draw-backs.  spoon doesn’t support Mac; I made some inquiries regarding the development for this and was given the impression it would be quite some time before this was released, late 2011 was the advised date which is a shame for all those Mac based designers out there. Personally I do own a PC laptop, but this certainly doesn’t give me the best experience when viewing any of my sites.  I also found the service to be inconsistently slow for no reason but in its defence it is still far quicker than any of the alternatives such as browser shots.

spoon is certainly a step in the right direction for both app and cross-browser testing; I would just like to see the support for Mac hurried a little.

The European Competition Commission have forced Microsoft to offer alternative web browsers with their operating systems, which will be available from March 2010 in Europe. This will obviously confuse some of the less techy users but it may also achieve something I think we all want – the accelerated demise of Internet Explorer 6!

The new Windows update once installed will give the user a choice of browsers, including Google Chrome, Opera , Safari and best of all Firefox. Those that simply think Internet Explorer is the web may find this confusing and ultimately will select the safe IE option – but hey, at least they upgraded. IE6 has caused us web designers a lot of trouble over the last few years and this force update may just make it truly possible for the first time to stop supporting it completely. The IE7 and 8 updates have helped reduce IE6′s domination but an active choice may just do enough to finally make this out-of-date browser insignificant enough to finally be ignored, ultimately this will educate the masses to the infinitely better options available.

With any luck this will be what most web designer have been waiting for, yes, it may take a while but it’s a massive step in the right direction.

A number of web designers have decided to stop supporting some browsers and particularly Internet Explorer (IE6 to be precise), but as IE6 becomes the native browser for a number of smart phones is it right to dismiss what still can be a large and relevant section of your audience.

I have been designing pages for a number of years now and have experienced my fair share of Internet Explorer 6 nightmare moments, however, this has never stopped me supporting this browser along with others.  During the past three years I have tried to support the main browsers, IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari, a decision simply based on the analytics available to me which have shown that IE in all its versions is the most popular followed closely by Firefox then Safari and Chrome, so it puzzles me why some designers and companies have decided to stop support for IE6!

My job as senior web-designer is measured on a number of factors, these are unique users, page impressions and visit duration; all these are affected by how accessible the website is.  Accessability at its essence is making a site easy to use for all users, people are coming to your site with varied skills and technology,  from many geographical locations and cultures so we as web designers have a duty to make our sites for all these people.  It seems however, that an ever growing number of designers want to ‘Kill IE6′ to somehow make the Internet a better place but punishing the ill-informed seems to be a very negative way to do so.

IE6 until recently was the most popular browser, this is  simply because it was the standard install with Windows XP and for many users of PC’s IE6 is just a window to the Internet nothing more; other users of IE6 don’t have a choice, the technology infrastructure in some companies is old leaving their employees no other option but to use this old browser, finally certain smart phones are using a web browser based on IE6 which we can only assume will become more popular over the coming months and years.  With all this in-mind how can anybody seriously think about not supporting what is going to be part of the web for the immediate future at least, I understand that it makes the overall design process more difficult but who said web design was ever going to be easy!

I became a designer to creating designs for all to enjoy, so not supporting at least the main browsers goes against all I am trying to do.  So to help make things less painful with cross browser testing here are a couple of  links to services I have used and would recommend.

Browser Shots is a comprehensive online testing solution (external link)

IEtester – great for ironing out quirks between IE versions (external link)

Don’t forget, as designers or even users of the Internet with knowledge we shouldn’t damage peoples experience, we should educate and advise to help make things better for all!