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I am doing a project, which is a website and my plan is to write every html,css,javascript in notepad++, checking everything in google chrome all the time and when i am finished I will test from the start with IE (which is the most difficult) and the other known browsers and I will correct any issues (with the known methods).

My question is this: Which do you think is the best browser for this work? Which is most compatible with the others, so I won't have to do much work after finish my website on this and correct it for the others? In a few words, which browser is most cross borwser testing material?

Thank you in advance.

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closed as not constructive by Wesley Murch, Oleh Prypin, xxbbcc, John Palmer, Jefffrey Dec 1 '12 at 4:01


The one your customers predominantly use. Seriously, though, IE is typically the outlier. –  Robert Harvey Dec 1 '12 at 0:11
IMO what you're after is standards compliance. acidtests.org –  Madbreaks Dec 1 '12 at 0:13
That's not a good approach. Test in Chrome, Firefox, and IE during development. –  Šime Vidas Dec 1 '12 at 0:14
I suggest you develop in the worst browser you plan on supporting. –  Wesley Murch Dec 1 '12 at 0:15
ŠimeVidas is right, don't do all the work and then go back just to find that what you was thinking isn't going to work. –  aefxx Dec 1 '12 at 0:15

8 Answers 8

I would sudgest using Mozilla Firefox for playing with HTML / CSS. One great thing it has is the FIREBUG add-on, which can be more tnah usefull while building your website. Check it out on https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/

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Ah yes, Firebug. Too bad Chrome doesn't have analogous developer tools... except it has. :P –  Šime Vidas Dec 1 '12 at 0:15
Bah, it's an add-on! Use Chrome, it's developer tools are not only (IMHO) better, it doesn't require any add-ons. –  Madbreaks Dec 1 '12 at 0:15
Also look at the Web Dev addon –  Jason Sperske Dec 1 '12 at 0:15

You're doing it wrong - it's far easier to fix cross-browser issues as they occur, rather than have to tear through a complex project for a minor issue.

IE6 and IE7 can be safely discounted - as no-one uses them anymore. IE8 is the latest first-party browser for Windows XP and should be tested - it doesn't have any layout bugs, but doesn't support many CSS3 features like rounded-corners - so you might want a fallback stylesheet.

Firefox and Chrome are both very bug-free and have excellent CSS3 support, but have different styling defaults, so I strongly suggest using reset.css: http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/ as this irons out any potential issues.

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Sorry, but IE7 is still widely used and cannot be "safely discounted". –  Wesley Murch Dec 1 '12 at 0:15
Too bad Wesley's right :( –  aefxx Dec 1 '12 at 0:16
Google has removed IE7 support from some high profile products (Google Docs, GMail) I think a compelling case for dropping IE7 can be made (be sure to use actually analytics before you cut those people off) –  Jason Sperske Dec 1 '12 at 0:18
Including Lynx? :) Hey its shipping with every major Linux distribution –  Jason Sperske Dec 1 '12 at 0:39
@user1866818 I think you're misunderstanding the difference between "functional" and "graceful degradation". Yahoo! started doing graded browser support years ago (yuilibrary.com/yui/docs/tutorials/gbs). Older browsers should have reasonable access to the site's core functionality, but I would never bend over backwards to replicate CSS3 features because a lack of things like rounded corners isn't going to prevent them from accessing the content (and content is king). –  cimmanon Dec 1 '12 at 0:45

I suggest Chrome.

1) It's the most popular browser.

2) It's got excellent developer tools.

3) It's webkit so you've also pretty much got Safari covered as well and webkit is also the foundation of most mobile browsers out there (Android/iOS).

IE 10 and Firefox are very similar to what Chrome will show as they're modern browsers. Then you're left with IE8, which I argue these days it's best not to worry about making it look perfect, just make it look good enough. Consider asking yourself what "support" means. I argue supporting an old browser means the site works, not that the experience is the same as Chrome.

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Personally I would suggest Firefox - I find firebug invaluable (I've never been able to get along well with Chrome's dev tools) and it commands a reasonably high market share.

That said, if you find Chrome's dev tools good, it may be better to use Chrome (as has already been said, this covers you for Chrome + Safari, which is about 35-40% browser share)

Really it depends on personal preference, try both and see which you prefer.

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Why pick one? If you include live.js and do your development with a locally running web server and then have your page open on all browsers you are testing against, the live.js code will automatically refresh the page every time you save a CSS, HTML or JavaScript file. You just have to add this line of JavaScript to the top of the page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://livejs.com/live.js"></script>

Also checkout IETester it lets you run multiple IE Rendering engines on a single PC (great way to test IE5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (all on the same computer))

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IE is the best for testing. here u can solve your design issue easily in compare of any other browser.

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As a web developer, you must be able to view your website/pages and easily debug it. Therefore, using Chrome is your best bet.
1. Built in Dev Tools.
2. Webkit. This is mostly supported on Safari as well.
3. A great browser to play around with. You can make all your fancy css3 stuff and test it out. If you like it, you can eventually add those to other browsers with javascript/jQuery.

4. Many many extentions. Though there just about the same amount of useful ones on Firefox, Chrome is IMO the best and most supported.
My list of Plugins:
- Chrome Sniffer - shows the framework a site is using... great for curiosity when browsing the net.
- Cloud Save - Lets you save files from websites to your cloud service of choice... great for web idea/resource browsing as well.
- Code Cola - Edit a section on your webpage directly for testing... like Chrome Dev tools but more direct.
- Eye Dropper - A must... lets you pick colors from webpages and find their various color codes.
- IE Tab - If you have windows, this is a great tool to have so you can view IE view inside Chrome.
- IPCV(Image Property Context Viewer) - See image values and such.
- Measureit - Find the dimensions of objects/classes/etc.
- Palette - Click on an image and it generates a palette from it.
- Resolution Test - A must have... check to see how your site displays on various browser dimensions.
- Session Manager - Save all your tabs for another session of Chrome.
- Web Developer - It does just about anything a Web Developer would need to know/test.
- WhatFont - Find out what font a website uses.

There is my qualities for Chrome... hope it is helpful!

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I would add that Google Chrome Canary offers the very latest, bleeding edge features and has all the same benefits of using the standard Chrome browser. Canary is the first to receive new Webkit features and is therefore the best for testing new Webkit browsers. However, you should test your site in all browsers available to you in an attempt to create the most compatible site possible. –  Scott Smith Jan 10 '13 at 5:26

I recommend downloading Visual Web Developer 2010 Express (which is free), coding it there and checking you work with Chrome developer tools or Firefox firebug. In my opinion they are the best dev tools out there. Coding with Visual Web Developer express will be much easier as it has Intellisense built in and will save you lots of time. If you want to check your code for validation, use the W3C markup validator.

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