VS2013RC requires IE10 but i need (not want) IE8

Question

I've been evaluating the VS2013preview since its release and was keen to install the RC. The problem is we need ie8 for legacy testing as many customers out in the field still use it.

As a possible workaround would it be possible to either, skip or fool the install package into thinking its installed? or install ie10 and then drop back to ie8 after installation?

I appreciate there may be some areas of things like browserlink to ie that I cannot use but this is OK as I mostly use chrome for initial dev work prior to testing in the various browsers.

Answer 1

Credit goes to Jimmy here, but here's a hack to make it work:

@ECHO OFF

:IE10HACK 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version /t REG_SZ /d "9.10.9200.16384" /f 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcVersion /t REG_SZ /d "10.0.9200.16384" /f 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version /t REG_SZ /d "9.10.9200.16384" /f 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcVersion /t REG_SZ /d "10.0.9200.16384" /f 
GOTO EXIT

:REVERTIE 
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcVersion 
REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v svcVersion 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version /t REG_SZ /d "8.0.7601.17514" /f 
REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version /t REG_SZ /d "8.0.7601.17514" /f 
GOTO EXIT

:EXIT

Answer 2

The problem is you're trying to use the same machine for developing and testing. Don't rely on the local copy of IE on your machine for testing a legacy browser, instead rely on virtual machine copies of Windows and run that specific browser.

If you want a quick & dirty way to test your stuff in specific versions of IE use the IETester as mentioned by others in the comments. http://my-debugbar.com/wiki/IETester/HomePage