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Thursday, December 6th, 2007

No Internet Explorer, No Problem

I read a blog post today and it reminded me of a solution to a problem encountered when running a Linux only web design operation. Browsershots:

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

Running a Linux only operation myself I can really appreciate how fantastic a tool/service Browsershots is. I no longer have to maintain an installation of Microsoft Windows and make it available via a dual boot set-up. When I did maintain a dual boot system I only ever entered Windows to check a new web template in Internet Explorer. Maintaining a complete operating system just for this reason is not worth the time or the effort.

Thank you Browsershots, you've helped liberate my systems!

Tagged with: linux, tools, ubuntu, webdesign

5 Responses to “No Internet Explorer, No Problem”

  1. Urko wrote, Thursday, December 6th, 2007

    Quick comment here: If you were maintaining a Windows installation for dual-boot, why not do it in VirtualBox/VMWare? Just curious.

    It's much more painless than having to go through the whole reboot process…

  2. Philip wrote, Thursday, December 6th, 2007

    @Urko: A good point and thanks for raising it. I have considered running Windows under VirtualBox, however I've stopped short of actually doing it for the same reason I stopped maintaining a dual boot set-up. I begrudge maintaining an operating system, whether virtual or not, just to occasionally run a web browser.

  3. Matt wrote, Thursday, December 6th, 2007

    What about IEs4Linux? You can run 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 and 7.0 IE under wine on your linux box. Far more friendly than 'doze where you need 1 OS and 3 VMs to achieve the same.

    IEs4Linux can be got from here.. http://www.tatanka.com.br/

  4. Alan Pope wrote, Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

    Worth noting that anyone can setup a browsershots "factory" which will process the screenshot requests you see on browsershots.org. You even get paid for it if you generate shots for paying customers.

  5. Philip wrote, Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

    @Alan: Hmmm, I didn't know that. I use the service all the time, I guess I'm generally too busy inspecting the images and don't pay much attention :)

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