Web design: Browser overview

Fortasse.com website 1/12/2010

So you’re designing a really cool website, want to know how it will look on different operating systems and browsers? While most pages will show up fine from one browser to another, there are always certain codes that just won’t work the same from one browser to another. Sometimes it’s more complicated than that: maybe you want to know if it shows up the same way in Firefox for Ubuntu Karmic Koala as it does for Windows XP. What’s a web designer to do? You could ask your friends to check out your site for you on their operating system / browser combinations whilst you test the site on yours. You could also install every conceivable operating system inside your current OS via Virtual Box. Or, you could drop by BrowserShots, type in your URL and wait a few minutes for it to parse your request.

Once you’re at the page, there are a plethora of options to choose from. You can select the screen size, color depth, and whether you want, Java, Javascript and Flash enabled.

Simple, fast, effective. After plugging in my URL, I had 53 browser / OS combinations in about 25 minutes. You don’t have to wait 25 minutes to start seeing them, though. The screen shots will be gradually uploaded one by one, so you can view them as they come in. The site literally directs a computer to view your site, takes a snap shot and uploads it. So you are, in effect, seeing exactly how it would look if someone loaded it up in the selected browser and operating system. Once the process is completed, you can save the pictures if you want. You can continue to view them for a while, but they will expire eventually.

So there you have it: next time you need to find out if there are any problems viewing your page on another browser or operating system, head on over to BrowserShots and take a peek for yourself!