@MaFt: Has netrenderer fixed their issues with PIE rendering? Used to be that their service wouldn't work right, it's like it would take the screenshot too early before PIE had a chance to kick in or something.

Another that is nice for just viewing is . The output seems to match what I get when using the F12 dev tools in IE9 (the version I have with my laptop) and makes it easy to spot check changes. It is a bit cludgy and prone to tabs just crashing but I have found it useful. IE9 runs like a dog on my Windows7 cheapo laptop so this solution works out pretty well for me.
Of course for actual troubleshooting of IE7-9 I still need to run IE9 and use the dev tools.

@MarkR: It sounds like you didn't actually read the article in this thread's original post. IETester is one of the tools that is *not* recommended due to inconsistencies that can give you false positives/negatives compared to the real thing.

Using IE9's dev tools has the same problem, they are not 100% accurate if you want to see how older IE versions actually behave.

The reliable options still appear to be full VMs, or an interactive service like browserstack or browserling.

yup, I just went back and see you are correct. I read through this thread. I retract my earlier (erroneous) statement and will go back to testing via F12 tools even though that seems to have issues as well.
Thanks for the clarification.

Here's another:

Microsoft has released a new set of virtual machine images going back to IE6, which will run on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

They've also worked out a 3-month free trial deal with BrowserStack.

http://www.modern.ie/virtualization-tools

I sent them a mail to say that their XP + IE6 image wasn't useable.
Modern.ie revoded it and said that it will be back soon.
https://twitter.com/MaximeEuziere/statu ... 6938020864
Patience!

I'm so happy you made this thread! Thanks for your guidance everyone.