Run IE6-9
If you work on the technical side of web design (e.g., HTML/CSS/JS) you need to cross-test most of your work on Internet Explorer, often versions 6, 7, 8 and 9. This is problematic in that you can only have one of those versions installed on your computer at once.
Enter Virtual PC and Microsoft's Internet Explorer Application Compatiabiltiy VPC Image(s). As of this writing, MS has made available for free download, entire images of XP/IE6, Vista/IE7, Win7/IE8, Win7/IE9. So this means you can "boot" up Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6 inside your current Windows installation.
For Windows 7 Pro, download and install Virtual PC here, for Windows 7 Home Premium download and install Virtual PC 2007 here. The latter is not officially supported, but I haven't had any problems.
Published Jul 27 2011