How can I determine which version of IE a user is running in JavaScript?

Question

In some existing code there is a test to see if the user is running IE, by checking if the object Browser.Engine.trident is defined and returns true.

But how can I deter

Answer 1

So IE8 compatibility view mode reports itself as IE7 even though it doesn't always behave the same. And for that, I give you this monster:

    // IE8's "Compatibility mode" is anything but.  Oh well, at least it doesn't take 40 lines of code to detect and work around it.
// Oh wait:
/*
 * Author: Rob Reid
 * CreateDate: 20-Mar-09
 * Description: Little helper function to return details about IE 8 and its various compatibility settings either use as it is
 * or incorporate into a browser object. Remember browser sniffing is not the best way to detect user-settings as spoofing is
 * very common so use with caution.
*/
function IEVersion(){
    var _n=navigator,_w=window,_d=document;
    var version="NA";
    var na=_n.userAgent;
    var ieDocMode="NA";
    var ie8BrowserMode="NA";
    // Look for msie and make sure its not opera in disguise
    if(/msie/i.test(na) && (!_w.opera)){
        // also check for spoofers by checking known IE objects
        if(_w.attachEvent && _w.ActiveXObject){        
            // Get version displayed in UA although if its IE 8 running in 7 or compat mode it will appear as 7
            version = (na.match( /.+ie\s([\d.]+)/i ) || [])[1];
            // Its IE 8 pretending to be IE 7 or in compat mode        
            if(parseInt(version)==7){                
                // documentMode is only supported in IE 8 so we know if its here its really IE 8
                if(_d.documentMode){
                    version = 8; //reset? change if you need to
                    // IE in Compat mode will mention Trident in the useragent
                    if(/trident\/\d/i.test(na)){
                        ie8BrowserMode = "Compat Mode";
                    // if it doesn't then its running in IE 7 mode
                    }else{
                        ie8BrowserMode = "IE 7 Mode";
                    }
                }
            }else if(parseInt(version)==8){
                // IE 8 will always have documentMode available
                if(_d.documentMode){ ie8BrowserMode = "IE 8 Mode";}
            }
            // If we are in IE 8 (any mode) or previous versions of IE we check for the documentMode or compatMode for pre 8 versions            
            ieDocMode = (_d.documentMode) ? _d.documentMode : (_d.compatMode && _d.compatMode=="CSS1Compat") ? 7 : 5;//default to quirks mode IE5                               
        }
    }

    return {
        "UserAgent" : na,
        "Version" : version,
        "BrowserMode" : ie8BrowserMode,
        "DocMode": ieDocMode
    }            
}
var ieVersion = IEVersion();
var IsIE8 = ieVersion.Version != "NA" && ieVersion.Version >= 8;