IEBlog posted an article last Thursday on running multiple versions of Internet Explorer for testing purposes. Their suggestion? Virtualization using a downloadable Virtual PC image. Yikes.

Of course, an easier and more realistic way that designers and developers have relied on for over two years is using evolt.org’s standalone versions of IE, based on discoveries made by Joe Maddalone. Even better, download Yousif Al Saif’s self-extracting installer, which lets you conveniently select which versions of Internet Explorer you want to install.

The good news is that now that IE 7 is out in the wild via Windows Update, we can safely begin to ignore IE 5 and 5.5 and focus exclusively on 6 and 7. Frankly, Internet Explorer 8—and with it, the death of 6—can’t come soon enough.