Platforms

Watir 1.6 provides a single browser interface that can be configured at run time to execute against Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Internet Explorer

The Windows version of Watir includes support for Internet Explorer. It works with IE 5.5, 6, 7 and 8 on Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista and 7.

Watir has supported Internet Explorer since 2003.

Firefox

FireWatir drives Firefox. It is automatically installed when you install Watir 1.6 on Windows. It can also be installed separately on Windows, Mac or Linux.

It supports Firefox 2 and 3.

The FireWatir project exists since 2006. FireWatir was merged into the Watir project in 2008. Both libraries are now maintained by the same team and community.

Experimental drivers

There are several browser drivers that are usable, but not yet officially supported.

Safari

SafariWatir drives Safari on OS X.

Chrome

watir-webdriver (installation and usage) drives Chrome, but also Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Other Browsers

Experimental ports of Watir have been made for Opera and WebKit, although they have not been released yet.

Running without a Browser

Celerity allows tests to run without using a browser. It is fast.

Other Tools

If you want to automate tests for web application, but for some reason Watir is not the right tool for you, take a look at our Alternative Tools For Web Testing wiki page.