Avant Browser

[MarkP]

Hi all,

While we're waiting for IE7 I thought I try a few of the other browsers. I
especially wanted one with tabbed browsing. Does anyone here use and have a
view on the Avant?

Thanks.

 

[Galen]

In MarkP <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi all,

While we're waiting for IE7 I thought I try a few of the other
browsers. I especially wanted one with tabbed browsing. Does anyone
here use and have a view on the Avant?

Thanks.

I have used it. It's not that bad. It's built on the IE engine IIRC and did
a decent job. I used it for about a week before I reverted to IE. One
annoying thing was it's desire to make you install some password management
tool, that was pretty annoying but other than that it worked.

Galen
--

"But there are always some lunatics about. It would be a dull world
without them."

Sherlock Holmes

 

[Bret Butcher]

I used to use it but ditched it for Maxthon (used to be myie2). It has
tabbed
browsing, RSS newsfeeds and good popup/ad blocking. It also sits on top of
IE.

 

[_R]

In

I have used it. It's not that bad. It's built on the IE engine IIRC and did
a decent job. I used it for about a week before I reverted to IE. One
annoying thing was it's desire to make you install some password management
tool, that was pretty annoying but other than that it worked.

Galen

I've used Avant and I don't remember the password management tool
(which is not to say it's not there). I should go back to check that.
I could use it.

All the multipane browsers that I've seen (quite a few) use the IE
activeX object as a base. I've written custom browsers and web page
disassemblers doing that; not very difficult. So all those browsers
have a great jump-start, and the engines are all the same. The
features piled on top set them apart.

There are three that stood out when I tried them: FastBrowserPro,
Maxthon, and Avant Browser. I personally like Avant the best, but
like anything, they all have their pros and cons.

The 'groups' feature is a big thing for me. Any advantage in using
multi-pane is really boosted by being able to save off groups of pages
and restore them later. Shopping for a '57 Rambler? Save off all 12
searched pages as group '57 Rambler' and then reload all at once.

Maintenance of groups is tough. If memory serves, Maxthon uses an
awkward file format that is not easily edited. Maxthon also seems to
have a "write a bunch of features and don't look back" coding
approach. I've seen lots of annoying bugs that don't get fixed. If
you have lots of URLs in your favorites folder, then forget Maxthon.
It takes ages to respond to a keyclick. Not sure how they managed
that. (Norton should buy them). On the other hand, Maxthon does have
some fancy stuff that some others don't.

Avant and FastBrowser Pro are similar in many ways. Both pretty
organized and sleek compared to Maxthon. No trouble with response.
I believe I ended up with Avant because of the way it organized Group
functions. Menus and UI are easily configured.

Avant is free, so just take it for a spin.

 

[MarkP]

the following

I've used Avant and I don't remember the password management tool
(which is not to say it's not there). I should go back to check that.
I could use it.

<snipped reply>

Great answer, thank you. Out of interest, what browser do you use?

Mark.

 

[MarkP]

Thanks Galen and Bret.

Mark.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Internet Explorer

 

[_R]

the following

<snipped reply>

Great answer, thank you. Out of interest, what browser do you use?

Mark.

I use both IE and Avant Browser. IE for when I'm logging into just a
couple sites. It's just easy to keep it set as the default browser.

I use Avant for when I want to load a group of related websites, or if
I'm researching something and I know I'll want to save off the whole
bunch for 'mass restore' later.

The main reason I don't run Avant every time I visit a new site is
that I usually shut it down with the 'save all groups' feature active
to take a snapshot of all current websites. I often don't want to
reload all those sites. Of course you can save them to a named group
and just choose not to reload next time you start up Avant. Then
you're starting clean with no delays for bringing up a list of sites,
and you're free to reload the 'last visited' group at any time.

In general, IE is a bit lighter on its feet. Multipane browsers seem
to be more economical with memory when loading lots of sites, they
have popup blockers, and of course the groups feature. For me, the
groups feature is the most important advantage over IE.

A test run of Avant will probably tell you a lot more within the first
couple minutes. It's very user-configurable, too, as you get the hang
of it.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

While we're waiting for IE7 I thought I try a few of the other browsers.
I especially wanted one with tabbed browsing. Does anyone here use and
have a view on the Avant?

I've been using it for probably close to 2 years and love it. Highly
configurable with tons of options and additional security (flash, activex,
ad and popup blockers). A new version was just released today.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

In MarkP <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:


I have used it. It's not that bad. It's built on the IE engine IIRC and
did a decent job. I used it for about a week before I reverted to IE.
One annoying thing was it's desire to make you install some password
management tool, that was pretty annoying but other than that it worked.

You're referring to Roboform. It's been bundled with various releases of
Avant. It's an optional install and not required.

 

[Fuzzy Logic]

I used to use it but ditched it for Maxthon (used to be myie2). It has
tabbed
browsing, RSS newsfeeds and good popup/ad blocking. It also sits on top of
IE.

I've toyed with Maxthon but preferred Avant. Avant and Maxthon are very
similar feature wise. I prefer Avant's look and feel and found it to let me
customize the interface the way I liked better than Maxthon.