How to Run Browser Compatibility Tests on Windows

Windows OS accounts for nearly 75% of the desktop OS market share globally. Needless to say, any web developer would aim at developing web apps that run seamlessly for browsers running on Windows OS.

There are multiple browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and others being used by users across the globe daily for surfing the web. Additionally, each browser has its latest and legacy versions. Naturally, software development teams need to test their web applications across these browsers and their distinct versions. This ensures that their applications work seamlessly across all the leading browsers on Windows OS.

However, testing across such diverse OS-browser-version combinations requires a comprehensive test infrastructure. Setting up such a comprehensive on-premise test infrastructure requires enormous investment. Naturally, it is not feasible for every organization. Moreover, maintenance of such test infrastructure is a cost overhead.

So how does one address this challenge?

This article aims at addressing this challenge by explaining how developers or QAs across the globe can run browser compatibility tests on Windows OS online using a cloud-based tool.

Running Browser Compatibility Tests on Real Windows 11 using Cloud Platform

An ideal and optimal way of running compatibility tests for browsers on Windows 11 or any version is to opt for a cloud-based platform that provides the necessary test infrastructure.

BrowserStack offers a diverse range of real browsers (IE, Edge, Chrome, Safari, etc including their latest and legacy versions.) and real Windows OS versions for this very purpose. For example, one can test on Internet Explorer(v 6-11) directly through their web browsers regardless of the operating system they use (Windows 10, Windows 11, etc).

The entire test infrastructure is cloud-based. This means one simply needs to:

1. Sign up for free
2. Log in
3. Choose the desired OS-browser-version combination
4. Start testing.

Let’s consider a sample scenario wherein a QA runs a browser compatibility test on Windows 11-Chrome. QA simply needs to:

1. Signup for free on BrowserStack Live.
2. Navigate to the Live dashboard.
3. Choose the desired combination (Windows 11 and Chrome v100 in this case). Refer to the image below for clarity.
4. The moment you select the desired OS-browser combination, a new Live session is initiated in the browser window instantly.
5. Now, simply enter the URL of the desired website and start testing on Windows 11 – Chrome

That’s how easily one can run browser compatibility tests on Windows 11 without any additional setup or configurations.

Run a Chrome Test on Windows 11 Now!

Additionally, teams also get access to multiple features available in the toolbar once a Live session begins:

• Geolocation testing to examine a website’s performance when accessed from a unique geographical location.
• Instant bug reporting (through Jira, Trello, Slack, Github) from the Live dashboard.
• Responsive testing for testing websites in distinct screen resolutions (like 1024×768, 1280×800, 1820×1024, and so on).
• Local Testing for testing and debugging work-in-progress web applications at scale without hosting them in public staging environments

As mentioned in the beginning, Windows OS dominates the desktop OS space. Naturally, software teams need to ensure that their web applications are compatible with the leading browsers (like Chrome) running on Windows OS.

Platforms like BrowserStack make it effortless for both QA and development teams to achieve this arduous task. Its comprehensive test infrastructure enables teams to run browser tests on Windows 11 and legacy versions of Windows effortlessly without any hassle.

Moreover, it empowers teams to test and optimize websites on real browsers rather than using an emulator for Windows OS. This guarantees accurate results every single time a QA plans to run browser tests for Windows 10 or 11.