Browsers used for testing
Page address: https://web.mnsu.edu/its/web/browsers.htmlMajor changes to Mnsu.edu website template and styles are tested thoroughly in latest available stable releases of current mainstream browsers on operating systems supported by ITS. We also test in some legacy browsers and pre-release versions. We strive to function well in these as a best effort. However, there may be reduced functionally if non-supported browsers are used.
We do expect authors on Mnsu.edu domains to uphold the same principal. If you create your own styles or your own tools, these browsers must work on each of our supported OS releases.
Browsers Supported
We support major browsers, Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer (IE) on the ITS supported OS releases.
This is a moving target, and it's hard to maintain a current set of supported browsers. However, as of 2014-08-05, this is the current set.
| Browser | Stable Version | Operating System | Layout Engine | Preview Version | Legacy Versions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 36 |    |
WebKit | ||
| Firefox | 31 | |
Gecko | ||
| Safari | 6 | |
WebKit | ||
| Internet Explorer | 10 | |
Trident | 11 | 9 |
Browsers no longer used for testing
This is not a complete list. But these are definitely not supported.
- Firefox 3.5.xx and older
- Chrome 4.xx and older
- Internet Explorer 8 and older
- Konqueror 4.2.xx and older
- Netscape
- Opera 9.xx and older
- Safari 4.xx and older
A bit about web browsers and standards
The browser wars of the 1990s forced web developers to produce browser-specific websites. Such websites were optimized to work with a particular browser and often had diminished functionality when viewed in other browsers. As the Web evolved, browser support for W3C web standards improved and it became feasible to build websites using standard (X)HTML and CSS. Mnsu.edu website was one of the earliest on the Web to become (X)HTML and CSS standards-compliant.
The majority of contemporary browsers have good or excellent support for web standards. Unfortunately, this does not automatically translate into trouble-free website development. A browser could claim to support a given standard, but the implementation could be buggy or incomplete and vary between browser makers. As new browser versions are released old ones become obsolete, but linger in use for years afterwards. So, even though our website is build according to web standards and the majority of modern browsers support those standards, cross-browser and cross-platform testing remains as important today as ever.