I was wondering on what browser versions (IE,NN,MZ,ETC) to most developers test their sites.

I have developed some intense javascript and am trying to ensure cross-browser compatibility. I have multiple sessions of IE 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 installed and can easily test those.

However mozilla and Netscape, I am unsure of what versions to test for. If you go to http://browsers.evolt.org/ you will see that navigator has been patched about 12 differrent times over the past few years. Initially I thought to start at 4.0 and greater, but then realized that NN has patched 4.x over 11 times. Should I load the last pached/released version of each (i.e. 4.x, 6.x, 7.x)? And I dont have clue which versions of Mozilla I should use for testing.

I would really like to hear what others do to test their sites. I know some develope for 5.x or greater but I dont want to snub the 4.x browser either.

Resources:
IE Multiple Installs: http://www.skyzyx.com/downloads/
ALL Browser Installs:http://browsers.evolt.org

Well, I would recommend for IE going 5.0 and later. The majority of IE users are 5.0+. For Mozilla, go for 1.0+. If people are using Mozilla, they usually keep up. All FireFox (and older: FireBird) browsers will be fine. As for Netscape...I don't know where to point you.

Check out this site it will give you a report on the compatibility of your site.http://www.netmechanics.com/toolbox/html-code.htm

Regards Steveharro Best Download Sites

if you just want to make sure that eg. css text and menus are displayed right you should take a look at iecapture:
http://www.danvine.com/iecapture/

testing IE5.5+, the latest netscape and opera should be sufficient.

I'd agree...but one issue has me reserved mxlabs.

Go for IE5+. I was reading an article about how many users are still on IE5, not just IE5.5...

I've found that Netscape 4 is still used in a minority of countries and some Internet cafes around the world. An easy way to ensure your website isn't totally garbled when visited by a NS4 user is to exclude the CSS from the browser.

Use the @import rule to exlude all non CSS 2 compliant browsers from seeing your CSS. So if you are using <div>'s they won't see the layout, but they will still see your information. Many people are adopting this method, especially in the xhtml community.

Example of an @import rule:

<style type="text/css">

@import url("layout.css") screen; /* just point this to your css */
@import url("print.css") print;

</style>

This isn't the only way to use this rule, but it's effective.

it basically depends on what is ur target audience and ur client is..

i for one, design only for the latest and the standard compliant browsers (well almost).. and concentrate on only ie6, ns7 and browsers in that range..

ns4 is out of my designing principles.. i do not design for it.. but i do look at it at times..

but priority is target market..

i test only for Netscape 7+/Mozilla and IE 5+. 99% of our buyers are using IE+.

Yes, target audience is key but ideally you should aim for greater accessibility if time and budget constraints allow.
If 500 million use the Web and say 80% use IE then that's 100 million that don't!
Also, watch for laws related to Equal Opportunities such as Section 508. Try to get away from thinking of Web pages as being solely visual
IMHO design for accessibility and don't forget text-only browsers like Lynx, Links and Elinks and audio interfaces such as Emacspeak that support aural StyleSheets.