Appendix 2: Tools for Debugging Web Applications and Add-ons

Applies To: Windows 7

Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview

You can use Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview to see rendering differences between different versions of Internet Explorer.

For more information, see the blog Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview.

To download the utility, see Microsoft Expression Web SuperPreview for Windows Internet Explorer in the Microsoft Download Center.

Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT)

The Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool (IECTT) – a component of the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit – can help you diagnose issues in your web applications running on either Internet Explorer 7 or Internet Explorer 8 (depending on which version is currently running on the computer you are testing it on). The tool displays issues in real time, and optionally uploads results to an Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT)database. The results include details about possible compatibility issues, and links for more information about each compatibility issue.

For more information about this issue and others related to Developers tools, see What is the Internet Explorer Compatibility Test Tool?.

Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools

Every installation of Internet Explorer 8 comes with developer tools. These enable website developers to debug Microsoft Jscript quickly, investigate a behavior specific to Internet Explorer, or to iterate rapidly to prototype a new design or try solutions to problems on the fly. Getting started with the tools is simple: press F12 or click Developer Tools from the Tools menu.

For more information, see Discovering Internet Explorer 8 developer tools.

Fiddler web debugger

Fiddler is a useful tool often used by the Internet Explorer team, which captures traffic between the Internet and your computer. It allows for inspection of both incoming and outgoing data, and can be used to monitor and “fiddle” with requests and responses before they are received by the browser. Built by a Microsoft developer, Fiddler includes a powerful event-based scripting subsystem and can be extended using any .NET language. Fiddler is available free as an Internet Explorer add-on.

To download Fiddler, see the Internet Explorer Add-ons Gallery.

Internet Explorer 8 Security Baseline

The Internet Explorer 8 Security Baseline is part of the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager tool, which is designed to provide you with an end-to-end solution to help you plan, deploy, and monitor the security baselines of computers running Internet Explorer 8 in your environment. The Security Compliance Manager provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, and customization capabilities. It also features security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies.

To download this tool, see Download the Security Compliance Manager.