even though there are standards, some browsers still like to use their own standard, like … IE (surprise!?) – different versions of IE will also render your site differently.

in addition, there are million browsers and platforms out there. you can’t install everything nor have all those platforms to check your website compatibility.

to check what your site look like in other browsers and platforms, use this tool to ensure your site is more or less consistent or not too far out. note: be patient, it may take a while to get screenshots.

as much as i try to avoid IE and try to promote firefox or any other open source browsers, IE still dominates the browser market. as web developer i still need to ensure the site works and looks right on IE.

but it’s a pain having to open (and wait for it to load) and close IE everytime i need to do this.

the same applies to going to sites that supports IE only. like most online banking sites - shame on developers (or perhaps the management?) not making them cross browser compatible.

IE tab solves this problem. it embeds IE in the tab with just a click. and you can switch back with just a click.

this works on windows only.

codetch is a free, open source source code editor.

the description at it’s download page says Get the feel of Dreamweaver in a Firefox extension.

i’ve never used dreamweaver and i can’t comment on that.

imo, this is a very primitive editor. knowledge of html is required.

i’ve been using firefox since it was in beta and love it! the only times i’m forced to use IE is i have to access sites that supports IE only (shame on you!)

ok, there’s another incident when i have to use IE. to make sure the websites i developed work and look good on IE. just because there are still lots of users who think IE is the browser.

for web development, firefox is a more superior browser. it has addons to aid development.

here are some of the addons i use (all free!):

• fireftp – ftp client.
• web developer – adds a menu on firefox with various tools. read this about its uses.
• colorzilla – eyedropper and color picker.
• show ip – shows the ip address of the current web site. so i can distinguish if i’m looking at production or development version - at work production and development are on different servers.