Love the web

UPDATE: A better alternative perhaps is IETester - a web browser that allows you to have the rendering and javascript engines of IE9, IE8, IE7, IE6, and IE5.5 in one convenient location on either XP, Vista or Windows 7.

It's every developer's dream not to have to test their website in Internet Explorer.  Unfortunately with Internet Explorer holding a massive lead in the browser market share, testing in IE has and probably always will be an essential part of the web development process. A major problem with testing in Internet Explorer however, is that currently you need to test in IE6, IE7 and now IE8, and getting all of those browsers working, without error, on one machine can be ridiculously challenging, if not impossible.

Thankfully Spoon have developed a way to get all these browsers and more, running seamlessly on one desktop.  They've achieved this using what they call "advanced application virtualization technology".  It sounds cool, and it is.  In their own words: 

"Spoon is a next-generation virtualization technology that allows applications to be deployed in lightweight, pre-configured, single-executable files that execute instantly on any Windows desktop. Unlike hardware virtualization solutions such as VMware and Virtual PC, which emulate the underlying hardware and therefore require an entire copy of the host operating system, Spoon application virtualization technology emulates operating system features required for application execution. As a result, Spoon-virtualized applications have essentially the same performance characteristics as native executables, allowing for easy deployment on corporate Intranets, the web, USB keys, or existing infrastructure such as Microsoft SMS, LANDesk, Altiris, ZENWorks, Unicenter, or AppStream."

Read up some more on Spoon virtualization technology.

Installation is pretty painless.  Simply download and install the 990kb Spoon one click plugin, restart your browser, and then push the big green "Start Application" button on the browser of your choice.

The current list of virtualised browsers is: IE8, IE7, IE6, Firefox 3, Firefox 2, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Opera.  Happy testing!