I'm building on a site and test the stuff in IE10. I would like to check backward compatibility with IE Developer Tools, so I switch to Browsermode: IE9. Next, I can set IE9 standards or Standard (page default), this gives me different results when I load the page.
Do I need to care testing IE9 standards, if I set a DOCTYPE in the page's <head> in my HTML page? Isn't Standard (page default) what a user that uses IE9 with standard settings should be able to experience when the page renders?
You're right, Jawa, keeping the browser and document modes the same is the way to check (approximately) how IE will render for past versions. I think
Standard (page default)is meaningIE10 standardsin this case, so using that instead of theIE9 standardswhen you are inbrowser mode IE9would definitely cause a different render.The only reason I am aware of to have a different document mode from the browser mode is if you are setting it that way on purpose and designing for it. This old blog post is decent background:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/10/19/testing-sites-with-browser-mode-vs-doc-mode.aspx