14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft recently updated and made available for download new Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VHD VPC Images, a great chance for web developers, and not only, to grab a range of free Windows copies from Microsoft. Packaged as virtual machine images, the free downloads offer Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Since not too long ago, the IE App Compatibility VHD VPC Images were put together by Microsoft’s Pete LePage, but not the latest versions.
David Tesar, a Microsoft IT Pro Technical Evangelist dealt with providing the latest update to the collection of free downloads, after a consistent refresh which brought with it the inclusion of Windows 7 on top of Vista and XP.
Customers can download “Windows XP IE6 (with install bits on the drive for IE7 and IE8) , Windows Vista IE7 (with install bits on the drive for IE8), Windows 7 IE8 (with install bits on the drive for IE9) and Windows 7 IE9 + ACT 5.6, Expression Super Preview,” according to Tesar.
Those familiar with the way that LePage used to build the images will notice that Tesar has a new approach. The IT Pro evangelist explained that he tried to optimize the offerings.
“I thought it would be best to not only simply patch the images and place them up on the site, but to also reassess how we could optimize the images and options available. Previously, there were three separate Windows XP images (IE6, IE7, IE8) and one Windows Vista SP1 with IE8 image,” he explained.
Tesar’s approach lets users have a say in which browser the Windows VHDs will run. This means that they can simply duplicate any image and subsequently opt to install a specific version of IE over another.
Tesar notes in a blog post announcing the new IE App Compatibility VHD VPC images that he’s quite interested in hearing from web developers and other customers leveraging the downloads.
“I’d be happy to accept feedback on what you think of this new structure of VPC images available. Do you care about having the various operating systems and versions of IE available, or do you only care about working with the various versions of IE?” Tesar asks.
The Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image are available for download here.